Reynolds Kristin, Medved Maria, Mackenzie Corey S, Funk Laura Megan, Koven Lesley
University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
The American University of Paris, Paris, France.
Qual Health Res. 2020 Aug;30(10):1517-1528. doi: 10.1177/1049732320919094. Epub 2020 May 26.
Older adults who experience challenges related to mental health are unlikely to seek professional help. The voices of older adults who have navigated through mental health issues and systems of care to arrive at psychological treatment are less well understood. We conducted individual interviews with 15 adults aged 61 to 86 who sought psychological treatment. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using narrative methods. We identified several main storylines that describe the meaning-making and treatment-seeking journeys of older adults: resistance to being labeled with mental health problems (telling stories of resistance, defining mental health issues in mysterious and uncontrollable terms, and experiencing internal role conflict); muddling through the help-seeking process (manifestations of chaos and system-level barriers); and emotional reactions to psychological treatment (hope, fear, and mistrust). Findings add to the literature base in the area of narrative gerontology, and highlight the complex experiences that older adults face when seeking psychological treatment.
经历心理健康相关挑战的老年人不太可能寻求专业帮助。那些曾经历心理健康问题并通过护理系统最终接受心理治疗的老年人的声音，人们了解得并不多。我们对15名年龄在61岁至86岁之间寻求心理治疗的成年人进行了个人访谈。访谈进行了录音、转录，并采用叙事方法进行分析。我们确定了几个主要的故事情节，描述了老年人的意义构建和寻求治疗的过程：抗拒被贴上心理健康问题的标签（讲述抗拒的故事，用神秘且无法控制的方式定义心理健康问题，以及经历内心的角色冲突）；在寻求帮助的过程中挣扎（混乱和系统层面障碍的表现）；以及对心理治疗的情绪反应（希望、恐惧和不信任）。研究结果丰富了叙事老年学领域的文献基础，并突出了老年人在寻求心理治疗时所面临的复杂经历。
