Post-discharge life is 'pleasant freedom with suffering wounds', combining real complications and imagined concerns that create a false sense of disability and helplessness.
ICU hospitalisation unpleasantness profoundly shapes patients' initial perceptions of recovery and ongoing home sufferings.
Recommend softening the ICU environment, comprehensive discharge preparation and robust post-discharge follow-up addressing actual and perceived physical and psychological problems.
BACKGROUND: Trauma patients recovering from coma face significant physical, psychological, and social challenges after returning home, which may adversely affect their daily lives and well-being. Exploring these experiences can inform care needs and guide tailored post-discharge support. Accordingly, this study aimed to explore post-discharge life experiences in trauma patients recovered from coma.
METHODS: This qualitative study was conducted using conventional content analysis. A total of 17 trauma patients who had recovered from coma and had been discharged at least three months prior were selected through purposive sampling. For data collection, 20 face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted until data saturation was achieved. Data analysis followed the Graneheim and Lundman approach. The rigor of the study was ensured using Guba and Lincoln’s criteria.
RESULTS: The findings revealed that the main theme of post-discharge life experience was characterized as “pleasant freedom with suffering wounds,” encompassing three categories: “freedom from captivity of alienation and despair,” “dubious pleasure,” and “integration of real and imagined disability and helplessness.”
CONCLUSIONS: The initial perception of post-discharge life among trauma patients who recovered from coma is profoundly shaped by the unpleasant experiences endured during ICU hospitalization. The sufferings experienced at home reflect a combination of real complications and imagined concerns arising from the severity of trauma, often accompanied by a false sense of disability and helplessness. These findings underscore the necessity of softening the ICU environment, implementing comprehensive discharge preparation, and providing effective post-discharge follow-up that addresses not only actual physical and psychological problems but also perceived or imagined sufferings.
J Fam Psychol. 2026 Jun 29. doi: 10.1037/fam0001507. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTParents of transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) youth navigate various fears within a sociopolitical context...
Psychol Trauma. 2026 Jun 29. doi: 10.1037/tra0002219. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE: Intimate partner violence, which includes physical assault, sexual violation and coercion, economic abuse, as...
J Community Psychol. 2026 Jul;54(5):e70117. doi: 10.1002/jcop.70117.ABSTRACTAIMS: Historical oppression of Indigenous communities has led to high poverty, violence, and substance use. The pandemic amplified pre-existing...
J Community Psychol. 2026 Jul;54(5):e70107. doi: 10.1002/jcop.70107.ABSTRACTThe ongoing system of coloniality, sustained through dehumanisation, racialised violence, oppression, war, and genocidal acts of violence, has left...
J Interpers Violence. 2026 Jun 29:8862605261462151. doi: 10.1177/08862605261462151. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTChild Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) offending has increased in recent years. Rather than being...
