Abstract
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: mental–emotional 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.
Highlights
Pain is an inherently private aversive sensory and emotional experience to which only the individual has direct access.[1,2] For young people living with pain, consideration of how their pain is understood is critical because it is a strong determinant in whether a child’s pain is appropriately treated.[3,4] Young people living with pain experience a tension between describing pain in enough detail to be taken seriously and avoiding too much detail as to risk having the authenticity questioned.[5]
The overall theme emerged as “anxiety is very much about pain,” which was supported by four subthemes: (1) embodied experience of anxiety: physical pain; (2) a prominent symptom of anxiety: mental–emotional pain; (3) difficult interpersonal relationships: social pain; and (4) articulating their pain
The initial goal of this research study was to capture the lived experiences of young people living with an anxiety disorder, with an emphasis on how they cope with and manage their anxiety
Summary
Pain is an inherently private aversive sensory and emotional experience to which only the individual has direct access.[1,2] For young people living with pain, consideration of how their pain is understood is critical because it is a strong determinant in whether a child’s pain is appropriately treated.[3,4] Young people living with pain experience a tension between describing pain in enough detail to be taken seriously and avoiding too much detail as to risk having the authenticity questioned.[5]. 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. 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. 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
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