“Like a Pale Flower in a Dark Well”: Experiences of Women Whose Spouses Have Schizophrenia

Abstract

The current qualitative phenomenological study was performed with the aim of determining spousal, marital, and family experiences of women with spouses who have schizophrenia. Eleven women (mean age = 48 years) who were living with a spouse with schizophrenia with a disorder duration of at least 10 years were interviewed. Two main themes and six subthemes were revealed: Dark Well (anger and hate, pity beyond emotion, burnout) and Pale Flower (porter work, prison, destruction of roles). Women living with spouses with schizophrenia felt as though they had fallen into a dark well filled with problems, such as anger, hate, pity, and burnout, while they were living pale lives, which were wearing them out in many ways due to changing roles, carrying heavy burdens, and disrupted marital relationships. [ Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 61 (2), 53–59.]