“The only thing I could have done…was turn to God, cause only God could help me”. The lived experience of ‘schizophrenia’ for Afro-Caribbean Christians: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

There exists an abundance of literature demonstrating heightened rates of ‘schizophrenia’ diagnoses among those of Afro-Caribbean heritage. Such rates, however, are not matched within their native countries which begs the question concerning the factors contributing to this prevalence. As it stands, this research area is largely saturated with positivist and reductionist literature, with a focus on the biomedical perspective of serious mental illness. However, there is also an evidence base that highlights how many Afro- Caribbean’s hold spiritual and/or cultural explanatory models regarding the phenomena of ‘schizophrenia’. Despite this, there is a dearth of research exploring the intersections between religion, culture and ‘schizophrenia’. The present study aims to contribute to the literature by using a qualitative lens to explore the lived experience of ‘schizophrenia’ for individuals who identify as Afro-Caribbean by ethnicity and Christian by faith. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach was adopted to explore the data. The analysis highlighted the significance of the participants faith during their process of sense making and navigating through their experience of ‘schizophrenia’. The analysis uncovered four group experiential themes (GETs) God as a healer of ‘schizophrenia’; ‘schizophrenia’ fostering a closeness to the creator; ‘schizophrenia’ as a transformative experience; and ‘the culture is spiritual’. Findings support the importance of considering one’s faith and religious orientation when seeking to understand the experience of ‘schizophrenia’. Implications for future research are highlighted in the discussion chapter, along with the limitations of the current study. Implications for clinical practice include the implementation of a set of guidelines that consider religio-cultural beliefs at an assessment and support level which seeks to explore and understand the diverse belief models of service users in order to offer care from a holistic perspective, which is inclusive of a diversity of belief models.