Abstract
In this study of patients with chronic-phase schizophrenia who had resumed a community life, the purpose was to clarify their decision-making process based on their accounts regarding experiences of making choices and decisions to control their symptoms. The study subjects were 9 patients in the latter half of adulthood who had utilized psychiatric day care for more than 1 year. They underwent semi-structured interviews, after which qualitative and inductive analyses were performed on the collected data using a modified grounded theory approach. The decision-making process aimed at establishing community life among patients with chronic-phase schizophrenia comprised 3 aspects: 1) recovering willingness at ease, 2) recognizing self by facing reality, and 3) deciding things by oneself in daily life. Thus, by this process, subjects could recover their willingness by experiencing things with safety and ease through interactions with other people, better recognize themselves by facing reality, and, through becoming more confident, decide things by themselves and set goals in their daily lives, as well as establish humanity with daily efforts.
