Meaning‐making during mental health struggles: Transitional information practices among individuals with obsessive‐compulsive disorder

Abstract When faced with significant life events, people often seek information support to help them regain a sense of meaning. Previous research has rarely explored the information practices of people with mental illnesses, particularly those with obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD) during life transitions. In this study, we conducted qualitative interviews with 23 people with OCD, using the critical incident technique, to explore their transitional information practices during mental health challenges and to understand how these practices support their meaning‐making processes. An integrated theoretical perspective was proposed, drawing on the information behavior theory of transitions and activity theory, to understand the interplay between the activities of people with OCD and the three transitional stages of understanding, negotiating, and resolving. These activities are influenced by a complex interplay of embodied experiences, social connections, cultural norms, and practical or abstract artifacts, which in turn shape the transitional information practices of individuals with OCD. Consequently, we constructed a model of the transitional information practices among individuals with OCD. This study contributes to the literature on information practices and meaning‐making during life transitions and provides practical insights into how individuals with OCD might receive information support and interventions from various communities.