PMID: 11625681Oct 20, 2001Paper

Narratives on fear within psychiatric care

Svensk medicinhistorisk tidskrift
G Svedberg

Abstract

The aim of the study is to describe and analyze beliefs and experiences of mental health care workers within Swedish psychiatric care prior to the introduction of neuroleptics in the early 1950s. The sources are narratives taken from interviews with nurses who worked in Swedish psychiatric care prior to 1953, works of fiction, and contemporary professional literature. The narratives are discussed from the perspective of modern literature on fear. A number of themes on fear recur in various permutations. The first encounter with the mentally ill was associated with fear. The physical environment, the regulations and the procedures all sent messages about the potential risks. The choice of psychiatric care as a professional sphere and professional pride alike seem grounded in self-efficacy to overcome fear. Tall tales and professional literature told of irrational and unpredictable violence among the mentally ill, thus inspiring fear. Violence did occur, but the fear seemed out of proportion to the nurses. The narratives give examples of strategies for dealing with fear, including use of restraints and procedures designed to gain control over dangerous objects and situations. The nurses considered it important to be able to rely ...Continue Reading

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Antipsychotic Drugs

Antipsychotic drugs are a class of medication primarily used to manage psychosis (including delusions, hallucinations, paranoia or disordered thought), principally in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Discover the latest research on antipsychotic drugs here

Related Papers

The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
Albina VeltmanDonna E Stewart
Nursing & Health Sciences
Anne Trollvik, Elisabeth Severinsson
The Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences
Jacob Margolin, Eliezer Witztum
© 2021 Meta ULC. All rights reserved