The Responses of Young People to Their Experiences of First-episode Psychosis: Harnessing Resilience

There is a burgeoning literature on first-episode psychosis, the focus of which is early intervention. Little emphasis has been placed on the responses of young people to their experiences of psychosis. This study, therefore, aimed to describe and explain the responses of young people to their first episode of psychosis. Data obtained from ten young people who attended a community early intervention recovery program in Perth Western Australia were analysed using a grounded theory method. The results revealed that the basic psychosocial problem experienced by participants was loss of control resulting in disrupted lives and that the core variable, harnessing resilience, accounted for most of the variance in their behaviour to overcome this problem. The resultant framework described and explained how participants resiled and established direction in their lives. Although there are limitations with this qualitative study, such as the small size and the demographics of the sample, the findings have potential implications for approaches to service provision and phase specific interventions.