1. ‘Because it kind of falls in between, doesn’t it? Like an acute thing and a chronic’: The psychological experience of anaphylaxis in adulthood
- Author
-
Charlotte Taylor, Eleanor Bradley, Berenice Mahoney, Laura Scurlock-Evans, Stephen O'Hickey, and Elaine Walklet
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Psychotherapist ,Control (management) ,BF ,Identity (social science) ,Interviews as Topic ,Illness perceptions ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Humans ,Medicine ,Perceived control ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Anaphylaxis ,Qualitative Research ,Applied Psychology ,Aged ,Specialist care ,business.industry ,Middle Aged ,R1 ,Chronic disease ,030228 respiratory system ,Acute Disease ,Chronic Disease ,Female ,Thematic analysis ,business ,RC ,Qualitative research - Abstract
Anaphylaxis is a serious, rare condition increasing in prevalence. This study explored the psychological experience of adult-onset anaphylaxis from patient, family and staff perspectives. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants. Two global themes emerged from thematic analysis: ‘controllability’ (‘an unknown and distressing experience’, ‘the importance of control over triggers’ and ‘responsibility but no control: the impact on others’) and ‘conflict’ (‘rejecting illness identity’, ‘minimisation of risk’, ‘accessing specialist care: running in slow motion’ and ‘patient-centred versus service-centred care’). Findings highlight the importance of perceived control and emphasise the presence of conflict in the experience of this complex, episodic condition.
- Published
- 2016
- Full Text
- View/download PDF