“I could’ve had a better life”: Reflective life reviews told by late-middle-aged and older women and men with ongoing long-term alcohol problems:

[摘要] Aim:This study accounts for how people aged 55-69 with ongoing long-term alcohol problems conceptualize past, present and future.Methods:A total of 19 interviews were performed, from which reflective life reviews were obtained and analyzed as narrative life accounts. Three structuring thematic traits were identified: resentment of life, acceptance of life and gratitude towards life.Results:The study shows how past, present and future intertwine into meaningful entities incorporating certain governing master narratives about recovery, familiar for example from expert discourse and the AA movement. When it comes to the theme of resentment, the participants articulated disappointment over what life had become and emphasized especially the missed work-related opportunities that the drinking had caused. In the theme of acceptance letting go of the past was viewed as important for creating a sober future. Within the dimension of gratitude the past was seen as a resource for self-development and future recovery....

[学科分类] 生物化学/生物物理

[关键词] alcohol problems;elderly people;life reviews;life stories;middle age