Loneliness | ‘I felt lonely, without a support, with all the things to do on my shoulders’; ‘I felt lonely, as the world and people didn’t exist’; ‘I had lost everything: a husband, a friend, a lover’. |
Dualism (willingness to die and wanting to live) | ‘I wanted to die, I attempted suicide with many pills. I wanted to escape, run away’; ‘Maybe I was expecting somebody to save me, care for me. I wasn’t able to do it by myself’; ‘I wanted and didn’t want to fight and hope for a better day’. |
Relationship with one’s own body | ‘I neglected myself, washing up only when strictly necessary and eating less than I needed to do’; ‘I completed rejected myself; I put on weight 18 kilos’; ‘Today I feel fit; I resumed taking care of myself’. |
Care relationships | ‘Before encountering Prof. X I had not followed the care pathway with confidence’; ‘My carers are human people; I wasn’t an easy patient’; ‘The biggest help came from a person who not only cured me with medication but offered me love and listening that I had never received before’. |
Relationships with others | ‘I didn’t want to see anybody, I had the impression I was a bad friend, a bad classmate, a bad sister, a bad person because I was always sad and worsened the mood of whoever was with me’; ‘I don’t like talking about me. But I am trying to be a little more open. I don’t want to continue to be isolated, even if I feel good on my island’. |
Afraid to ‘fall again’ | ‘I wouldn’t lose all that I reached, my balance’; ‘I wouldn’t fall again in the dark tunnel’; ‘I don’t want to live this nightmare again’. |
Writing experience | ‘While I was writing, I felt calm’; ‘It was an opportunity to reflect and feel relief’; ‘I want to continue to write’. |