A “blip in the road”: experiences of identity after a first episode of psychosis

Introduction: Psychosis can affect identity in fundamental ways. Increasingly, those experiencing psychosis for the first time are enrolled in early intervention services. We sought to explore how individuals enrolled in such services felt their identity was impacted by their experience of psychosis.Methods: In-depth interviews exploring themes related to identity and psychosis were conducted with 10 participants from two early intervention services in New York City.Findings: The experience of psychosis alienated many participants from themselves, although participants differed in whether these experiences were meaningful to their self-understanding. Participants also varied in how they sought to explain their experiences of psychosis; some participants questioned their diagnoses and the explanations offered to them, whereas others tried to negotiate between a clinical description of psychosis and their own understanding of their experiences. Many participants also experienced positive changes following their experience of psychosis, including greater maturity, empathy, and compassion.Discussion: Some participants appeared to take on recovery styles of both integrating and sealing-over in response to their experience of psychosis, while most participants’ reports were suggestive of post-traumatic growth. Several struggled to make sense of the explanatory frameworks offered to them, drawing from various explanatory frameworks in a form of bricolage.