The lived experience of anxiety and the many facets of pain: A qualitative, arts-based approach

Abstract

Background: Findings reported in this article emerged from the study titled "Youth's Voices: Their Lives and Experiences of Living with an Anxiety Disorder." Though the initial focus of this study was not on the pain experiences of youth living with an anxiety disorder, it became apparent from the very first interviews that pain and suffering was key in the youth lived experience, permeating their everyday lives and impeding their participation and functioning in the world. Aims: The aim of this article is to highlight the ways in which pain is a central experience for young people living with an anxiety disorder. Methods: The study was approached from the qualitative research design of hermeneutic phenomenology. Fifty-eight young people who were living with anxiety disorders and their parents participated in the study. Youth took part in multiple qualitative open-ended interviews and the participatory arts-based method of photovoice. Themes were developed using van Manen's method of data analysis. Results: The overall theme emerged as "anxiety is very much about pain." The four subthemes are (1) embodied experience of anxiety: physical pain; (2) a prominent symptom of anxiety: mentalemotional pain; (3) difficult interpersonal relationships: social pain; and (4) articulating their pain. Conclusions: Use of qualitative, arts-based methodologies provided the opportunity and space for youth with anxiety to articulate their multifaceted experience with pain in their own words. This work reinforces the need for use of qualitative approaches to understanding pain experiences in young people. RÉSUMÉ Contexte: Les conclusions présentées dans ce document sont issues de l'étude intitulée « La voix des jeunes : Leurs vies et leurs expériences de la vie avec un trouble anxieux ». Bien que l'objectif initial de cette étude n'était pas de s'intéresser aux expériences de douleur des jeunes vivant avec un trouble anxieux, il est apparu dès les premiers entretiens que la douleur et la souffrance étaient des éléments clés de l'expérience vécue par les jeunes, qui imprégnaient leur vie quotidienne et entravaient leur participation et leur fonctionnement dans le monde. Objectifs: Le présent document vise à mettre en lumière les façons dont la douleur constitue une expérience de premier plan pour les jeunes vivant avec un trouble anxieux. Méthodes: L'étude a été abordée à partir de la conception de la recherche qualitative de la phénoménologie herméneutique. Cinquante-huit jeunes vivant avec des troubles d'anxiété et leurs parents ont participé à l'étude. Les jeunes ont pris part à de multiples entretiens qualitatifs ouverts et à la méthode participative Photovoice, fondée sur les arts. Les thèmes ont été déterminés en utilisant le processus d'analyse des données inspiré de van Manen. Résultats: Le thème général qui s'est dégagé est le suivant : « L'anxiété est essentiellement liée à la douleur ». Les quatre sous-thèmes sont les suivants : (1) L'expérience de l'angoisse incarnée : La douleur physique ; (2) Un symptôme important de l'...

Understanding Youth’s Lived Experience of Anxiety through Metaphors: A Qualitative, Arts-Based Study

“…When used in healthcare discussions, explanatory metaphors aim to cue shared cultural models in order to serve as a “bridge between expert and public understandings” [ 25 ]. Every mental illness experience, especially anxiety [ 13 , 89 ] and depression [ 12 , 101 , 102 ], is unique to the individual and embedded in their context. For this reason, a clinician’s use of metaphor should be tailored to the patient’s context and individual characteristics (e.g., cultural values, background, illness type and stage) [ 17 , 31 , 36 ].…”

“…Measures such as scales and questionnaires are necessary to quantify anxiety, yet these approaches risk not adequately reflecting the lived experience of psychological distress across individuals and settings [ 12 ]. Living with a mental illness, including anxiety [ 13 ] and depression [ 14 ], is a complex, biopsychosocial experience that is unique to each person and embedded in their contexts and lived worlds. Given the breadth and complex intricacies of mental illness experiences, a qualitative approach presents several advantages [ 15 ].…”

Qualitative research and pain: Current controversies and future directions

“…Two of the multiple approaches to arts-based qualitative research are also illustrated in the present Special Issue. For instance, Woodgate et al 16 explored the meaning of pain for youth with anxiety by analyzing photos they took of objects and people, and O’Keefe-McCarthy et al 17 investigated individuals’ journeys recognizing pain as a symptom of cardiovascular disease by interpreting participants’ thematic poetry and visual art. Language- and arts-based data can be used in unison to provide a comprehensive description of various phenomena.…”

“… 34 By example, Tabeefar et al 35 used thematic saturation as a construct to guide sampling adequacy in their study of community pharmacists’ experiences with chronic pain, which was guided by the principles of grounded theory. Conversely, and in line with phenomenological inquiry, the studies by Dagg et al, 27 Mustafa et al, 29 and Woodgate et al 16 focused on obtaining rich personal accounts and describing the similarities and differences in experiences across participants. A one-size-fits-all approach to evaluating qualitative studies, as is often done by non-qualitative experts, disregards the core epistemological and ontological underpinnings of the various qualitative designs.…”

“…This carefully curated collection includes high-quality, cutting-edge empirical qualitative studies in pain that highlight theoretical and methodological advancements in the field. The studies included in this Special Issue employ a range of qualitative methodologies, including grounded theory, 35 phenomenology, 16 , 27 , 29 qualitative description, 28 and arts-based approaches. 15 , 17 The collection of studies also demonstrates the array of methods of data collection possible in qualitative research, including both traditional (e.g., one-on-one interviews 27 , 29 , 35 ) and novel (e.g., photovoice, 16 object elicitation, 28 social media posts 15 ) methods.…”