Posttraumatic growth and recovery among a sample of Egyptian mental health service users: a phenomenological study

Ibrahim, Nashwa; Ng, Fiona; Selim, Abeer; Ghallab, Eman; Ali, Amira; Slade, Mike

Abstract

Background: Delivery of recovery-oriented mental health practice is fundamental to personal recovery. Yet, there is lack of service users’ accounts on what constitutes mental health recovery in Egypt. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore mental health recovery meaning informed by people with personal experience of recovery. Methods: A phenomenological research design was used. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 17 adult community-dwelling individuals who identified as recovered/recovering from mental health issues. An inductive thematic analysis approach was used to analyses participants’ responses. Results: Participants predominately reported personal and functional definitions of mental health recovery. Posttraumatic growth was the strongest theme comprising: relation to others, spirituality, new possibilities, identity & strengths, and appreciation of life. Themes of acceptance and forgiveness, functional and clinical recovery, and finding hope were also identified. Conclusions: This is the first study to explore mental health recovery meaning among a sample of people with lived experience of mental health issues in Egypt. Findings suggest that developing and implementing psychosocial interventions to support posttraumatic growth among people with mental health issues is a priority.

Citation

Ibrahim, N., Ng, F., Selim, A., Ghallab, E., Ali, A., & Slade, M. (2022). Posttraumatic growth and recovery among a sample of Egyptian mental health service users: a phenomenological study. BMC Psychiatry, 22, Article 255. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-03919-x

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 4, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Apr 12, 2022
• Publication Date: Apr 12, 2022
• Deposit Date: Apr 8, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 12, 2022
• Journal: BMC Psychiatry
• Electronic ISSN: 1471-244X
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 22
• Article Number: 255
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-03919-x
• Keywords: Psychiatry and Mental health
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7713084
• Publisher URL: https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-022-03919-x
• Additional Information: Received: 10 February 2022; Accepted: 6 April 2022; First Online: 12 April 2022; : ; : Ethical approval was obtained from faculty of nursing, Mansoura University ethics committee. All participants consented to participate; an informed consent was obtained from all the study participants.; : Not applicable.; : Authors declare no competing interests.