"It's like I'm getting my body back" - a qualitative study of the embodied aspect of personal recovery in the context of community-based exercise for young adults with severe mental illness.
Martin Færch Andersen, Rikke Jørgensen, Anne Vestervang Fuglsang et al.
✦ AI-curated · Sources linked
In 30 seconds
This qualitative interview study examined how bodily experiences relate to personal recovery among young adults with severe mental illness participating in community-based exercise. Embedded in a multicenter pragmatic randomized controlled trial, it purposively sampled 16 participants aged 25–35 and analyzed semi-structured interviews using Reflexive Thematic Analysis. The analysis identified an overarching theme of Embodied Recovery, comprising bodily identity, regulation, and sociality. Participants described exercise as supporting bodily ownership, regulation, and social connection, alongside challenges involving bodily unpredictability and social comparison.
Key findings
- Sixteen participants aged 25–35 described exercise experiences in interviews analyzed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis.
- The analysis identified Embodied Recovery, with interrelated themes of bodily identity, bodily regulation, and bodily sociality.
- Exercise was described as supporting bodily ownership, regulation, and social connection, while bodily unpredictability and social comparison posed challenges.
Why it matters
The findings draw attention to bodily experience as part of personal recovery, not only psychological and social dimensions. They suggest that exercise may be experienced as supporting ownership of the body, regulation, and connection, while also presenting challenges. This perspective can inform how recovery-oriented services consider movement and embodied experience.
What to keep in mind
The qualitative study purposively sampled 16 participants, so its findings describe these participants’ experiences and do not establish the effects of exercise.