Identity Processes and Perceptions of the Life Span in Chronic Mental Patients

This study was an exploratory investigation of identity and life-span perceptions in a sample of thirty-seven chronic mental patients, ranging from twenty-three to sixty-four years of age, using the “life drawing,” a projective technique. Age differences were found in the adaptation of identity to t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of aging & human development 1991-01, Vol.33 (1), p.65-73
Main Authors: Whitbourne, Susan Krauss, Sherry, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation
Adaptation, Psychological
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Adults
Age Differences
Age Factors
Aging & longevity
Art Therapy
Biological and medical sciences
Eating behavior disorders
Female
Humans
Identity
Identity Formation
Life Change Events
Male
Medical sciences
Mental Disorders
Mental Disorders - psychology
Mental Processes
Middle Aged
Patients
Projective Measures
Projective Techniques
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Self Concept
Self image
Sick Role
Social research
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Summary:This study was an exploratory investigation of identity and life-span perceptions in a sample of thirty-seven chronic mental patients, ranging from twenty-three to sixty-four years of age, using the “life drawing,” a projective technique. Age differences were found in the adaptation of identity to the life experiences associated with mental illness. Individuals less than thirty years old were more likely to adopt a “patient identity”; in contrast, the over-forty years-olds adapted to their illness through denial. These differences held regardless of psychiatric diagnosis, suggesting a process of identity adaptation more general than is implied in mental disorder diagnostic systems.
ISSN:0091-4150
1541-3535
DOI:10.2190/LD3W-MC56-2GXU-WK4D