Social disconnectedness in psychosis: a qualitative perspective

Abstract

Research increasingly highlights the importance of social disconnectedness for the development of psychosis. However, the perspective of individuals with psychosis remains largely underexplored. At present, there is also no comprehensive view of the role of social processes throughout different phases of psychosis development. The current study aims to investigate 1) how individuals with a psychotic disorder experience social disconnection and 2) the role of social disconnection We conducted two focus groups, with individuals diagnosed with a psychotic disorder (N = 8). The data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. We structured the data according to three phases: pre-psychotic early life, development of psychotic symptoms and recovery. The first phase included following themes: “developing distrustful views of others through childhood interpersonal adversity” and “growing up socially isolated”. The second phase had three themes: “increasing separation between common and individual reality perception”, “struggling to share psychotic experiences due to stigma” and “losing relationships due to feeling misunderstood and decreased social functioning”. The final phase encompassed: “accepting psychosis diagnosis through social support”, “grounding influence of others” and “finding purpose through social integration”. In general, individuals with psychosis viewed social disconnectedness as a highly important factor for understanding and treating psychosis.