Purpose: The aim of the article is to explore the chronic sorrow experiences of the caregivers of clients with schizophrenia in Taiwan.
Design and methods: Descriptive, phenomenological, and purposive sampling and one-to-one, in-depth, and unstructured interviews were used. Data saturation was achieved after interviewing 12 participants. Narratives were analyzed using Colaizzi's (1978) method.
Findings: Three themes and eight subthemes emerged, including encountering sorrow (disordered life, disintegrated self-esteem, little prospect for hope, and collapsed sense of security), talking with sorrow (cognitive change and transformation of action), and living with sorrow (living with defects and living with responsibilities).
Practice implications: Advanced practice psychiatric nurses should take the emotional stability of caregivers into consideration. Caregivers should be encouraged and taught effective culture-oriented strategies for living with sorrow.
Keywords: caregivers; chronic sorrow; clients with schizophrenia; phenomenology.
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