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Immersion and Distance: Two Varieties of Experience of Psychiatric Hospitalization

Inpatient Psychiatric Service, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

John C. Shersow, M.D.

Inpatient Psychiatric Service, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

In this paper we describe an inquiry into the experience of short-term hospitalization. Sixty- seven patients were interviewed shortly before discharge with the goal of obtaining a picture of their subjective impressions — satisfactions, criticisms, hopes for the future — growing out of their hospitalization. Two broad types of experiences were noted, which we label 'immersion' and 'distance'. We illustrate some of the clinical manifestations of these two divergent hospital experiences, discuss their relations to traditional diagnostic categories, and speculate on their implications for clinical management.

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