FROM SYMPTOMS TO PHENOMENA - THE ARTICULATION OF EXPERIENCE IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

Research conducted in Montreal with schizophrenic patients was aimed a t exploring the mode of Being-in-the-world and the kind of lifeworld a ssociated with a positive evolution. Data were collected through open- ended interviews with patients who were contrasted for their rate of r ehospitalization. The analysis combined structural analysis, inspired by hermeneutics, and discourse analysis. The interpretation of the dat a was guided by the frame-work provided by European phenomenological p sychiatry. The research indicates that nonrehospitalization is associa ted with a specific mode of Being-in-the-world, which is described at several levels: At the structural level, it is marked by a stance of ' 'positive withdrawal'' dominated by personal detachment; self-percepti ons evidence various semiological and rhetorical strategies that contr ibute to the rearticulation of a sense of personal identity; narrative s reveal that patients resort to a limited number of specific life str ategies for relocating themselves within their own biography and withi n the present world. Hypotheses are posed regarding the potential infl uence of the North American culture on the restorative strategies draw n from the patients' narratives.