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Adolescents, especially those who are gifted, may be susceptible to existential dread. It is suggested here that a team approach be used to implement the following solutions: (a) nourish students socially, (b) work toward acceptance of giftedness and teach methods of enhancing emotional development, (c) provide philosophical nurturance.
The author searches for an explanation for the fact that an originally only spatial and not "loaded" pair of concepts like "right and left" could gain in our time such high-tension content in political terms. He suspected underlying anthropologic connections and tried to elucidate them with existential analysis. He found that the basis can be seen in the physical constitution of man. Physical experience first transmits the concepts of right and left. The "asymmetric" symmetry of our bilateral physical organisation makes experiencing right and left possible. On this basis the mental concepts of our existence would be imposed in noethic-ethic categories. And these would become active in our political world. This is demonstrated on a case of H.E. Richter. Following Richter'd ideas the psychodynamic rules of political-structural disparities could be shown. The "rights" as repressors dominate the "lefts" as the depressed which now protest in their dispair. As extreme forms the two polarized radicals who now fanatically stylize the other as the enemy, will fight to the death their own denied opposite side psychodynamically. Bizarre ideal visions lead to legalization of terror and brutality. As missing how they are linked in psychiatric terminology paranoid types result extending to the formation of genuine (political) obsessions. For both catathymia of outlook and language are characteristic which show eminent loss of a picture of the world.
This article presents a vision of crisis intervention for seropositive persons following an approach inspired by existential psychology. Persons who intervene must view crisis intervention for HIV-positive persons as an exploration of the close relation that exists between life and death. They must investigate the interrelations with the dimensions who intervene must view crisis intervention for HIV-positive persons as an exploration of the close relation that exists between life and death. They must investigate the interrelations with the dimensions of time, space, world and body. They must also examine the characteristics of the seropositive experience that are specific to the different infected clienteles. The welcoming process, the urgency of the situation and the therapeutic complementarity must be considered as the main guidelines for this type of crisis intervention which, in addition, must take into account the various life experiences that are particular to each of the HIV-positive persons. This approach requires that the person who intervenes and plays a supporting role must put into question their own attitudes toward the phenomenon at hand. Finally, life with the infection can also bring certain intervenors and clients to discover and profit from a number of unsuspected benefits.
Counselling is increasingly described in the literature as an important part of the psychiatric nurse's role. Often, the type of counselling described in that literature is of the client-centered type developed by Carl Rogers. This report outlines the philsophical position known as existentialism and offers suggestions as to how that philosophy may be used to develop a more vigorous and more egalitarian approach to counselling in nursing.
Feelings of existential guilt are assumed to depend on the perception of a causal relationship between one's own behavior or (privileged) situation and the disadvantages of others. By contrast, pity should not depend on such perceptions. This hypothesis, which has been supported so far only by correlational studies, was tested experimentally. Eighty students were shown a film about a developing country. The film was provided with four different comments, each representing one experimental condition (between-subjects design). Experimental factors were "amount of misery of the people shown" and "subject's responsibility for these peoples' conditions of life". As expected, subjects in the condition "misery and responsibility" reported higher feelings of guilt, though no more pity than subjects in the remaining three treatment conditions (experiment 1, n = 40). This mean difference, however, was statistically significant for men only. Contrary to our theoretical expectations--and to finding from other experiments on vicarious reparation--the induction of guilt had no effect on willingness to help a third party (experiment 2, n = 40). Possible reasons for this unexpected finding are suggested.
The author begins with a characterization of one of the fundamental problems of phenomenological existential analysis: how can results which have been arrived at by means of special scientific methods be applied to an understanding of the world we live in? Referring to the work of L. Binswanger, M. Boss, A. Jores and others, he demonstrates the possibility of a new understanding of the meaning of some voice and speech disorders, particularly hysterical aphonia, spastic dysphonia, stuttering and so-called functional development symptoms (which are found in the results of organic examinations in connection with speech disorders). He bases an adequate psychotherapy mainly on the interpretation of dreaming, of resistance and of the meaning of pathological symptoms in general.
The concept of the borderline syndrome is briefly discussed in the light of recently published surveys. In the author's view, the concept as formulated by Benedetti can be usefully applied in the European context. The pictorial creations of borderline patients reveal with striking clarity the general and essential features associated with this polymorphous psychopathological concept, despite its variable symptomatology. Referring to examples drawn from extensive collections of drawings by two female patients, the author demonstrates that existential suffering is definitely a major theme in this expressive work.
Starting from the anthropological understanding and structural analysis of melancholia (Minkowski, E. Straus, von Gebsattel, L. Binswanger, Tellenbach), it is made an attempt to show historicity of man as significant for existential condition. Melancholic patients are basically lacking historical meaning of existence.
The notion of time is particularly important to seniors. Because their future prospects are more limited, the past plays a very significant role. It serves as an anchor for the present and a guideline for the future. The passage of time is not uniform for everyone. It evolves over years and is based on accumulated experiences and personal factors such as age, activity and interests. For this reason, the older a person gets, the more each minute counts. Time is also indicative of change and is revered as the value of values. It is a useful tool for highlighting and valuing the present moment and the actual task to be accomplished in the here and now. It is essential that nurses understand the subjective reality of time to each individual patient if they are to give quality care. Comprehending time's existential meaning to seniors will add a further dimension to nursing interventions that are based on Watson's model of care.
The purpose of this research was to conduct a study of the art of caring in nursing administration. By means of a phenomenologic-hermeneutic approach, the caring experiences of six nurse administrators were revealed and analyzed. Essential themes emerged from their descriptions of their experiences. Interpretation of the data served as the lens through which the expressions of the art of caring related to archetypical philosophies of art: living form, imitation, and expression. An ethical theory, Existential Authenticity, was uncovered as the unity of meaning of nursing administrative caring art. This unity of meaning embodied statespersonship, which was viewed by Plato as the highest form of art. Implications for the transformation of nursing administrative practice as an ethical caring enterprise by the manifestation of statespersonship are presented.
There are dreams that portray with unusual clarity critical junctures in a person's life. Inasmuch as the realm from which the images of a dream emerge is of the same nature as the source of genuine fairy tales, it is intuitively perceptive of the latter's deeper meanings. Thus suitable fairy tale themes can enhance the experiential insight into dreams. The young student's dream that we discussed indicates a sharp awareness of several existential disharmonies. He confuses the messages originating in his innermost self with external demands against which he still rebels blindly; he is incapable of metamorphosing creatively the numerous disorganized urges within himself; and he thus cannot achieve a positive relationship with his deeper potentials which are set aside. The comparison of the dream with an analogous, charming Romansh tale portraying a harmonious solution of the young man's impasse proved to be of crucial help.
Supportive-Expressive Group Therapy (SEGT) has been developed and manualised in the research setting, but there have been few clinical accounts of its utility. In this qualitative review of its application in the Melbourne-based randomised control trial (RCT) for women with advanced breast cancer, SEGT is considered from the perspective of the structure and framework of therapy, its therapists, the issues that develop in exploring its common themes and what constitutes a well functioning group. Groups move through identifiable developmental phases. The mature group process transforms existential ambivalence into creative living, evidenced by humour, celebration, assertiveness, altruism, new creative pursuits and eventually courageous acceptance of dying. Challenges and pitfalls include avoidance, non-containment of ambivalence, intolerance of difference, anti-group phenomena and splitting. A key element is the medicalization of the group culture whereby members and co-therapists explore health beliefs and attitudes about care. This promotes compliance with anti-cancer treatments, including both the initiation of and perseverance with chemotherapy. This mechanism could prove to be a potentially important pathway in promoting longer survival.
Daughters caring for a mother with breast cancer represent a vulnerable population. They are confronted with having to integrate their emotional reactions to their mother's illness while simultaneously processing concerns about their own personal susceptibility. Through their caregiving, daughters obtain intimate knowledge of their mother's breast cancer experience. As part of a study of breast cancer survivorship and the family, in-depth interviews were conducted with a diverse sample of adult daughters caring for their mother with breast cancer. Analysis of the daughters' narratives documents that their mother's cancer diagnosis subjects them to a period of crisis fraught with severe emotional distress and life and death concerns that parallels the 'existential plight' that patients encounter following the cancer diagnosis and inception of treatment. Specifically, the daughters' accounts demonstrate that the diagnosis intensified their bond with their ill mother, while also presenting challenges in their relationship. It precipitated a re-definition of personal values and altered their perceived future. Their mother's illness prompted recognition of increased family risk and rendered daughters with a heightened sense of personal vulnerability. Clinicians need to appreciate the extent to which daughters can be impacted by their mother's cancer experience.
In health care, it is generally acknowledged that individuals experiencing cancer illness and dying of cancer face a challenging time. Oncology and palliative care have responded by developing an expertise of treatment and care. The opportunity to receive the best of health care is accepted as an important concern to patients. However, recent research explains that many areas of dying cancer patients' concerns remain undisclosed and unresolved (Heaven & Maguire 1997). The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify dying cancer patients' concerns with the aim of developing a Concerns Questionnaire to further explore the relationship between patients' concerns and psychological and physical distress. In-depth interviews were carried out with 21 patients with advanced cancer who had been told they were no longer to receive curative treatments. Content analysis of the interview transcripts showed that existential concerns were a significant issue for these patients. Furthermore, patients' opportunity for reflection, personal change and inner discovery at the end of their illness could be enhanced by earlier experiences of holistic cancer care.
Although methods for controlling most cases of severe cancer pain exist, probably about 50% of patients still suffer from unnecessary, poorly controlled pain. Cancer pain has a substantial negative effect on mood, resulting in anxiety, depressive feelings and even suicidal thoughts and cognitive functions are disturbed. As cancer pain often originates from skeletal metastases, movements and daily activities (ADL) functions are restricted. Cancer pain is associated by the public with progressive disease and dying and is therefore a trigger of existential fears, for both patients and the public. Pain treatment and education are therefore high-priority matters with effects far beyond the physical suffering.
The aim of this study was to explore how people suffering from long-term mental illness and who live in the community experience their daily lives. The study was based on an ethnographic framework involving participant observations with 23 individuals from two rehabilitation centres and interviews with six women and two men. The observational notes and interviews were recorded, transcribed into the data and analysed based on the phases of hermeneutic interpretation. The process consisted of identifying tentative interpretations that highlighted various impediments that prevent people with long-term mental illness from having an active life. The impediments can also be interpreted as a form of alienation, an interpersonal phenomenon and a consequence due to of the lack of social acceptance towards mental illness. The participants expressed concern about the future and lack of hope. Viewing themselves as being 'odd' is not a symptom of mental illness, but rather evidence of experiencing existential and social alienation not only as a consequence of other people's reactions but also their own negative attitudes towards mental illness and effects of their cognitive dysfunction.
Drawing from an existential perspective rooted in terror management theory, four studies examined the hypothesis that breast-feeding women serve as reminders of the physical, animal nature of humanity and that such recognition is threatening in the face of one's unalterable mortality. Study 1 demonstrated that mortality salience (MS) led to more negative reactions toward a scenario depicting a woman breast-feeding her infant in public, and in Study 2, MS decreased liking and increased physical avoidance of a potential task partner described as breast-feeding in another room. Further supporting the hypothesis that such reactions are rooted in threats associated with human creatureliness, MS in conjunction with a breast-feeding prime led to an increase in the accessibility of creaturely related cognitions (Study 3) and priming human/animal similarities (i.e., creatureliness) led to increased negativity toward a magazine cover depicting a woman breast-feeding her child (Study 4). Implications of this research are discussed.
This study was carried out in eight palliative care services in four Canadian cities. A revised version of The McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire (MQOL) is compared to a single-item scale measuring overall quality of life (SIS), and the self-administered version of the Spitzer Quality of Life Index (SA-QLI), to obtain evidence of validity. MQOL total score predicts SIS better than does SA-QLI, although much of the variance remains to be explained. The results of principal components analysis of data using this revised version of MQOL are similar to those from previous MQOL studies with different patient populations. The MQOL subscales, constructed on the basis of principal components analysis, demonstrate acceptable internal consistency reliability. The MQOL measures reflecting physical well-being and existential well-being are important for predicting SIS.