Experiences and coping strategies of people with schizophrenia.

The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences and coping strategies of people with schizophrenia living in the community. The study answered three research questions: How do people with schizophrenia perceive their situation? How do people cope when a stressful perception of the situation is made? and What are the experiences of people diagnosed with schizophrenia living in the community? Thirty randomly selected people between the ages of 21 and 35 with schizophrenia living in the community were interviewed using a semistructured open-ended interview format. The content analyses of the audiotaped, transcribed interviews were the basis of the description of living life with schizophrenia. People perceive the situation of mental illness in a variety of ways, frequently holding more than one perception. Seven approaches of managing stressful perceptions of the situation emerged from the interviews. Three major dimensions, seeking security, finding meaning, and managing emotional pain, described life experience. Additionally, the content analyses provided the base for the conceptualization of Like Everyone Else. This concept describes the pervasive concern for and realization of one's normality which was seen in, and transcended, all dimensions of life. People with schizophrenia experience normality as both goal and reality. This research provided the base for life-situation focused care, an approach which values clients' perception of themselves and the world. The approaches to managing stressful perceptions of the situation, the dimensions of life experience, and the conceptualization of Like Everyone Else provide direction for Nursing; practice with people with schizophrenia living in the community.