Search

Perinatal mental health issues are a global public health challenge. Worldwide, it is estimated that 10% of pregnant women, and 13% of women who have just given birth, experience a mental disorder. Yet, for many reasons – including stigma, limited access to services, patients' lack of awareness about symptoms, and inadequate professional intervention – actual rates of clinical and subclinical perinatal mental health issues are likely higher. Studies have explored experiences such as postpartum depression, but few involve a wider‐ranging exploration of a variety of self‐reported perinatal mental health issues through personal narrative. We conducted 21 narrative interviews with women, in two Canadian provinces, about their experiences of perinatal mental health issues. Our aim was to deepen understanding of how individual and cultural narratives of motherhood and perinatal mental health can be sources of shame, guilt, and suffering, but also spaces for healing and recovery. We identified four predominant themes in women's narrative: feeling like a failed mother; societal silencing of negative experiences of motherhood; coming to terms with a new sense of self; and finding solace in shared experiences. These findings are consistent with other studies that highlight the personal challenges associated with perinatal mental health issues, particularly the dread of facing societal norms of the 'good mother'. We also highlight the positive potential for healing and self‐care through sharing experiences, and the power of narratives to help shape feelings of self‐worth and a new identity. This study adheres to the expectations for conducting and reporting qualitative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this interpretive phenomenological study, understandings of resilience from the perspective of teenage girls recovering from mental illness were explored. The primary research question was as follows: How is resilience portrayed through teen girls' experiences of health and mental illness? Benner's interpretive phenomenology informed by Gadamerian concepts of conversation, prejudices, and fusion of horizons guided the research design. The interpretive description process involved close reading of how the world experienced by participants was understood while listening for relational, gendered and cultural nuances. Resilience for teenage girls recovering from mental illness was portrayed as very challenging yet a rewarding life path with complex lines of movement towards strength and wellness. The life path involved critical junctures and personal growth while withstanding multiple traumas and acting to overcome adversities. Findings from this study underscore for nurses the relevance of actively advocating for trauma‐informed and gender‐sensitive approaches to promote teenage girls' (mental) health and well‐being and to enhance resilience and recovery from mental illness in the face of what may seem insurmountable adversities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]