Lived Experience of Anxiety Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Lived Experience of Anxiety - Essay Example Chronic illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, and other mental disorders are associated with anxiety. Anxiety is common among patients undergoing Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanning, a modern technology in radiography that gives images of human tissues. Some researches have indicated that about 25-37% of patients undergoing the scan experience moderate to high levels of anxiety (Tornqvist et al, 2006). The causes of anxiety among patients during MRI scanning are varied. Some of the causes are the scan environment and the levels of noise. MRI scans can take between 25 and 60 minutes (Royal Adelaide Hospital, 1998) or even more and the patient is required to stay still in this period to get good result (Tornqvist et al, 2006). Short breath in the scanner may cause anxiety. Anxiety is also caused by fear of the results that may be revealed by the scan. The anxiety can increase in certain instances leading to the disruption of the scanning process. This is disastrous to the patient a s well the health-providing center. 2. Aim and purpose of the study The main aim of the study is to illuminate the lived experience of patients during an episode of anxiety. The study seeks to provide an answer to the given research questions: what are the general experiences of the patients during the MRI scanning process and how did they manage the difficulties. It will help identify the approaches that can help the radiographers to support the patients with anxiety during MRI scan to avoid the odds associated with premature termination of the scanning process. 3. The study approach- phenomenology The study will apply phenomenology approach in getting information on the above topic. Phenomenology, as a study discipline, involves the study of different structures of an individual’s experience or consciousness (Smith, 2008). The discipline is concerned with the appearance of events and things in the experience of an individual, the way these things are perceived, and the ulti mate meanings that they have in the experiences of the individuals (Smith, 2008). Phenomenological approach in research involves seeking the information on first-hand experience. The approach is concerned with probing into a given phenomenon and further investigation to have a better understanding of some lived experience (Tornqvist et al., 2006). It involves an encounter with the individual, who is supposed to share his or her experience freely, with little guidance/ influence from the interviewer. A study of this nature seeks to give ‘insightful descriptions of patients’ pre-reflective experiences’ (Tornqvist et al, 2006, p.955). The research seeks information of this nature and hence the phenomenology approach is best suitable here. 4. The data collection method and qualitative The participants for the study will be drawn from the list of patients who have undergone MRI scan at the college hospitals. The researcher has accessed the patients register, through a permission from the management of the hospital, to get the contacts of these patients. Twenty individuals will be required to participate in the interview. Since some of the individuals contacted may decline to participate in the study, the researcher obtained randomly selected contacts of about 35 patients who had undergone MRI scan within the month of January 2012. The data collect