Top

Published in:

Open Access 25-09-2023 | Original Paper

A Constructivist Grounded Theory Study on Mental Health Recovery from a Lived Experience Perspective in Singapore

Authors: Jonathan Han Loong Kuek, Toby Raeburn, Melissa Yan Zhi Chow, Timothy Wand

Published in: Community Mental Health Journal | Issue 2/2024

Abstract

More contemporary personal recovery conceptualisation of mental health recovery emphasize the need to consider the perspectives of people who experience mental ill-health. Most lived experience research has been done in Western cultures with relatively few studies in Asian ones, creating a gap that needs to be addressed due to differences in cultural worldviews. This study explores the notion of recovery from the lens of people experiencing mental health challenges in Singapore. We adopted a constructivist grounded theory perspective to evaluate qualitative data from 21 participants. The core category which best represented what recovery meant was “reconciling and living with experiences of mental ill-health”. Our findings suggest that a variety of societal aspects greatly influence perceptions of mental health recovery in Singapore, as participants often shared their desire to live a meaningful life within society but could only do so if they found a way to manage their symptoms more effectively.

Amering, M. (2012). Recovery, science and human rights. Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci, 21(4), 367–369. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2045796012000285.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Anthony, W. A. (1993). Recovery from mental illness: The guiding vision of the mental health service system in the 1990s. Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 16(4), 11.CrossRef

Bingham, D., & Kelley, A. (2022). Rethinking recovery: A qualitative study of american indian perspectives on peer recovery support. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332640.2022.2082620.

Charmaz, K. (2017a). Constructivist grounded theory. The Journal of Positive Psychology.

Charmaz, K. (2017b). The power of constructivist grounded theory for critical inquiry. Qualitative Inquiry, 23(1), 34–45.CrossRef

Cleary, M., Horsfall, J., O’Hara-Aarons, M., & Hunt, G. E. (2013). Mental health nurses’ views of recovery within an acute setting. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 22(3), 205–212. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1447-0349.2012.00867.x.CrossRefPubMed

Dattani, S., Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2021). Mental Health. Our World in Data https://ourworldindata.org/mental-health.

Deegan, P. E. (1988). Recovery: The lived experience of rehabilitation. Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 11(4), 11.CrossRef

Della, C. D., Teo, D. C. L., Agiananda, F., & Nimnuan, C. (2021). Culturally informed psychotherapy in asian consultation-liaison psychiatry. Asia Pac Psychiatry, 13(1), e12431. https://doi.org/10.1111/appy.12431.CrossRefPubMed

Druss, B. G., Singh, M., von Esenwein, S. A., Glick, G. E., Tapscott, S., Tucker, S. J., Lally, C. A., & Sterling, E. W. (2018). Peer-led self-management of General Medical Conditions for patients with Serious Mental Illnesses: A Randomized Trial. Psychiatric Services (Washington, D. C.), 69(5), 529–535. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201700352.CrossRefPubMed

Efendi, F., Aurizki, G. E., Yusuf, A., & McKenna, L. (2022). Not shifting, but sharing: Stakeholders’ perspectives on mental health task-shifting in Indonesia. BMC Nurs, 21(1), 165. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-022-00945-8.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Gillard, S., Holley, J., Gibson, S., Larsen, J., Lucock, M., Oborn, E., Rinaldi, M., & Stamou, E. (2015). Introducing new peer worker roles into Mental Health Services in England: Comparative case Study Research across a range of Organisational Contexts. Administration and Policy in Mental Health, 42(6), 682–694. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-014-0603-z.CrossRefPubMed

Hanpatchaiyakul, K., Eriksson, H., Kijsomporn, J., & Ostlund, G. (2017). Lived experience of Thai Women with Alcohol Addiction. Asian Nurs Res (Korean Soc Nurs Sci), 11(4), 304–310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anr.2017.12.001.CrossRefPubMed

Jacob, K. (2015). Recovery model of mental illness: A complementary approach to psychiatric care.

Jacobson, N., & Farah, D. (2012). Recovery through the Lens of Cultural Diversity. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 35(4), 333–335. https://doi.org/10.2975/35.4.2012.333.335.CrossRefPubMed

Jessell, L., & Stanhope, V. (2021). How do you try to have anyone comply or at least be pliable with you if that person’s not even medicated?: Perspectives on the use of psychiatric medication within recovery-oriented practice. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal. https://doi.org/10.1037/prj0000493.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Kidd, S., Kenny, A., & McKinstry, C. (2015). Exploring the meaning of recovery-oriented care: An action-research study. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 24(1), 38–48. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12095.CrossRefPubMed

Lai, D. W. L., Chan, K. C., Daoust, G. D., & Xie, X. J. (2021). Hopes and wishes of clients with mentally illness in Hong Kong. Community Ment Health J. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-021-00779-9.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Lam, J. S. H., Links, P. S., Eynan, R., Shera, W., Tsang, A. K. T., Law, S., Fung, W. L. A., Zhang, X., Liu, P., & Zaheer, J. (2021). I thought that I had to be alive to repay my parents: Filial piety as a risk and protective factor for suicidal behavior in a qualitative study of chinese women. Transcultural Psychiatry, 13634615211059708. https://doi.org/10.1177/13634615211059708.

Leamy, M., Bird, V., Le Boutillier, C., Williams, J., & Slade, M. (2011). Conceptual framework for personal recovery in mental health: Systematic review and narrative synthesis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 199(6), 445–452. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.110.083733.CrossRef

Lee, M. Y., Eads, R., Yates, N., & Liu, C. (2021). Lived experiences of a sustained Mental Health recovery process without Ongoing Medication Use. Community Ment Health J, 57(3), 540–551. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00680-x.CrossRefPubMed

Lee, Y. Y., Seet, V., Chua, Y. C., Verma, S. K., & Subramaniam, M. (2022). Growth in the Aftermath of Psychosis: Characterizing Post-traumatic Growth in Persons With First Episode Psychosis in Singapore. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.784569.

Lemelson, R., & Tucker, A. (2017). The bird dancer and the warrior king: Divergent lived experiences of Tourette syndrome in Bali. Transcultural Psychiatry, 54(4), 540–561. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461517722869.CrossRefPubMed

Linde, J., Schmid, M. T., Ruud, T., Skar-Froding, R., & Biringer, E. (2022). Social factors and recovery: A longitudinal study of patients with psychosis in Mental Health Services. Community Ment Health J. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-022-01007-8.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Lloyd-Evans, B., Mayo-Wilson, E., Harrison, B., Istead, H., Brown, E., Pilling, S., Johnson, S., & Kendall, T. (2014). A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials of peer support for people with severe mental illness. BMC Psychiatry, 14(1), 1–12.CrossRef

McCabe, R., Whittington, R., Cramond, L., & Perkins, E. (2018). Contested understandings of recovery in mental health. Journal of Mental Health (Abingdon, England), 27(5), 475–481. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2018.1466037.CrossRefPubMed

McKenna, B., Furness, T., Dhital, D., Ennis, G., Houghton, J., Lupson, C., & Toomey, N. (2014). Recovery-oriented care in acute inpatient mental health settings: An exploratory study. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 35(7), 526–532. https://doi.org/10.3109/01612840.2014.890684.CrossRefPubMed

Mills, J., Bonner, A., & Francis, K. (2006). The development of constructivist grounded theory. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 5(1), 25–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690600500103.CrossRef

Moncrieff, J., Cooper, R. E., Stockmann, T., Amendola, S., Hengartner, M. P., & Horowitz, M. A. (2022). The serotonin theory of depression: A systematic umbrella review of the evidence. Molecular Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-022-01661-0.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Nwokoroku, S. C., Neil, B., Dlamini, C., & Osuchukwu, V. C. (2022). A systematic review of the role of culture in the mental health service utilisation among ethnic minority groups in the United Kingdom. Global Mental Health, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1017/gmh.2022.2.

Ran, M. S., Hall, B. J., Su, T. T., Prawira, B., Breth-Petersen, M., Li, X. H., & Zhang, T. M. (2021). Stigma of mental illness and cultural factors in Pacific Rim region: A systematic review. BMC Psychiatry, 21(1), 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-020-02991-5.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Seet, V., Abdin, E., Vaingankar, J. A., Shahwan, S., Chang, S., Lee, B., Chong, S. A., & Subramaniam, M. (2020). The use of complementary and alternative medicine in a multi-ethnic asian population: Results from the 2016 Singapore Mental Health Study. BMC Complement Med Ther, 20(1), 52. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-020-2843-7.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Slade, M., & Longden, E. (2015). Empirical evidence about recovery and mental health. BMC Psychiatry, 15, 285. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-015-0678-4.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Slade, M., Williams, J., Bird, V., & Leamy, M.,C, L. E. B (2012). Recovery grows up. Journal of Mental Health (Abingdon, England), 21(2), 99–103. https://doi.org/10.3109/09638237.2012.670888.CrossRefPubMed

Slade, M., Amering, M., Farkas, M., Hamilton, B., O’Hagan, M., Panther, G., Perkins, R., Shepherd, G., Tse, S., & Whitley, R. (2014). Uses and abuses of recovery: Implementing recovery-oriented practices in mental health systems. World Psychiatry, 13(1), 12–20.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Slade, M., Bird, V., Clarke, E., Le Boutillier, C., McCrone, P., Macpherson, R., Pesola, F., Wallace, G., Williams, J., & Leamy, M. (2015). Supporting recovery in patients with psychosis through care by community-based adult mental health teams (REFOCUS): A multisite, cluster, randomised, controlled trial. The Lancet Psychiatry, 2(6), 503–514. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(15)00086-3.CrossRefPubMed

Stein, D. J., Phillips, K. A., Bolton, D., Fulford, K. W., Sadler, J. Z., & Kendler, K. S. (2010). What is a mental/psychiatric disorder? From DSM-IV to DSM-V. Psychological Medicine, 40(11), 1759–1765. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291709992261.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Subandi, M. A. (2015). Bangkit: The processes of recovery from First Episode Psychosis in Java. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 39(4), 597–613. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-015-9427-x.CrossRefPubMed

Subandi, M. A., Praptomojati, A., Marchira, C. R., DelVecchio Good, M. J., & Good, B. J. (2021). Cultural explanations of psychotic illness and care-seeking of family caregivers in Java, Indonesia. Transcultural Psychiatry, 58(1), 3–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461520916290.CrossRefPubMed

Subramaniam, M., Abdin, E., Vaingankar, J. A., Shafie, S., Chua, H. C., Tan, W. M., Tan, K. B., Verma, S., Heng, D., & Chong, S. A. (2020). Minding the treatment gap: Results of the Singapore Mental Health Study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 55(11), 1415–1424. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-019-01748-0.CrossRefPubMed

Suryani, S., Hidayah, N., Sutini, T., & Al-Kofahy, L. (2022). The indonesian survivors’ perspective about recovery from Schizophrenia: An exploratory study. Jurnal Keperawatan Padjadjaran, 10(2), 99–106. https://doi.org/10.24198/jkp.CrossRef

Tan, G. T. H., Shahwan, S., Goh, C. M. J., Ong, W. J., Wei, K. C., Verma, S. K., Chong, S. A., & Subramaniam, M. (2020). Mental illness stigma’s reasons and determinants (MISReaD) among Singapore’s lay public - a qualitative inquiry. BMC Psychiatry, 20(1), 422. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-020-02823-6.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Tasijawa, F. A., Suryani, S., Sutini, T., & Maelissa, S. R. (2021). Recovery from ‘schizophrenia’: Perspectives of mental health nurses in the Eastern island of Indonesia. Belitung Nursing Journal. https://doi.org/10.33546/bnj.1621.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Tong, A., Sainsbury, P., & Craig, J. (2007). Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ): A 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups. International Journal for Quality in Health care, 19(6), 349–357.CrossRefPubMed

Tonsing, K. N. (2018). A review of mental health literacy in Singapore. Social Work in Health Care, 57(1), 27–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/00981389.2017.1383335.CrossRefPubMed

Tse, S., Ng, C. S. M., Yuen, W. W. Y., Lo, I. W. K., Fukui, S., Goscha, R. J., Wan, E., Wong, S., & Chan, S. K. (2021). Process research: Compare and contrast the recovery-orientated strengths model of case management and usual community mental health care. BMC Psychiatry, 21(1), 534. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-021-03523-5.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Tsoi, E. W., Tse, S., Canda, E. R., Goscha, R. J., & Lo, I. W. (2022). The meaning of strengths for strengths-based mental health practice in Hong Kong chinese culture: A qualitative exploratory study. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 45(1), 71–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/prj0000476.CrossRefPubMed

Waller, S., Reupert, A., Ward, B., McCormick, F., & Kidd, S. (2019). Family-focused recovery: Perspectives from individuals with a mental illness. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 28(1), 247–255. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12528.CrossRefPubMed

Wyder, M., & Bland, R. (2014). The Recovery Framework as a way of understanding families’ responses to Mental illness: Balancing different needs and recovery journeys. Australian Social Work, 67(2), 179–196. https://doi.org/10.1080/0312407x.2013.875580.CrossRef

Yoder, H. N., de Jong, J. T., Tol, W. A., Duncan, J. A., Bayoh, A., & Reis, R. (2021). Child witchcraft confessions as an idiom of distress in Sierra Leone; results of a rapid qualitative inquiry and recommendations for mental health interventions. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 15(1), 1–15.CrossRef

Yu, B. C. L., Mak, W. W. S., & Chio, F. H. N. (2021). Family involvement moderates the relationship between perceived recovery orientation of services and personal narratives among chinese with schizophrenia in Hong Kong: A 1-year longitudinal investigation. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 56(3), 401–408. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-01935-4.CrossRefPubMed

Yuan, Q., Abdin, E., Picco, L., Vaingankar, J. A., Shahwan, S., Jeyagurunathan, A., Sagayadevan, V., Shafie, S., Tay, J., Chong, S. A., & Subramaniam, M. (2016). Attitudes to Mental Illness and its demographic correlates among General Population in Singapore. PLoS One, 11(11), e0167297. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0167297.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Yuen, W. W., Tse, S., Murray, G., & Davidson, L. (2019). From my point of view, my wife has recovered’: A qualitative investigation of caregivers’ perceptions of recovery and peer support services for people with bipolar disorder in a chinese community. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 65(4), 305–312. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764019842287.CrossRefPubMed

Yung, J. Y. K., Wong, V., Ho, G. W. K., & Molassiotis, A. (2021). Understanding the experiences of hikikomori through the lens of the CHIME framework: Connectedness, hope and optimism, identity, meaning in life, and empowerment; systematic review. BMC Psychol, 9(1), 104. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-021-00605-7.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Title: A Constructivist Grounded Theory Study on Mental Health Recovery from a Lived Experience Perspective in Singapore
Authors: Jonathan Han Loong Kuek
Toby Raeburn
Melissa Yan Zhi Chow
Timothy Wand
Publication date: 25-09-2023
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Community Mental Health Journal / Issue 2/2024
Print ISSN: 0010-3853
Electronic ISSN: 1573-2789
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-023-01184-0

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

A Constructivist Grounded Theory Study on Mental Health Recovery from a Lived Experience Perspective in Singapore

Abstract

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 2/2024

Behavioral Health Care Delivery Through Street Medicine Programs in California

Reframing Mental Health Ethics

Nationwide Evaluation of Quality of Care Indicators for Individuals with Severe Mental Illness and Diabetes Mellitus, Following Israel’s Mental Health Reform

Addressing Socioeconomic Determinants of Youth Suicidal Ideation: Lessons from a Youth Development Approach in India

Associations between Social Adversities and Chronic Medical Conditions in a Statewide Sample of Individuals in Treatment for Mental Illnesses

Patient and Provider Perspectives on Processes of Engagement in Outpatient Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder: A Scoping Review