The emotional experience of non-dominant (right) cerebral hemisphere stroke survivors: an existential Heideggerian exploration

Aims and Objectives: This dissertation explored the emotional experience of people with nondominant (right) cerebral hemisphere stroke. More specifically, this study aimed to explore the way people with right cerebral hemisphere stroke experience, understand, express, and adjust to emotions post stroke.

Method: Qualitative phenomenological research was conducted using semi-structured interviews with a sample of seven participants. The sample was recruited through the Stroke Association and came from the UK, France, and the United States. The sampling method used a nonprobability sample and relied on a purposive-sampling approach.

Participants were included in the study if at the time of the recruitment they were strongly right-handed adults between 25 and 65 years of age, had a clinical diagnosis of first stroke in the nondominant (right) cerebral hemisphere, had a minimum of six months of recovery time post onset of stroke and were fluent in the English language. The interview accounts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).

Results: The results of this study showed that emotional experiences post right cerebral hemisphere stroke are central to the participant’s existence. These are diverse, intricate, and dynamic experiences that are connected to the person’s objects of concern, experience of the world and the contextual information that surrounds this. Within this context, the three main themes identified (the emotional encounter, the emotional challenge and the emotional overcoming) highlighted that post right cerebral hemisphere stroke, emotions are subject to significant alterations that are marked by qualitative differences over time and that whilst such changes lead to personal transformations and emotional challenges, these can be transcended through one’s ability to maintain some level of internal stability through continuity and meaning and an attitude such that moving towards the future becomes possible.

Whilst some results were consistent with the literature on stroke, the specific focus on emotional experience post right cerebral hemisphere stroke teased out some of the most pertinent aspects in the way these experiences are significant to the participant’s existence. Also, the absence of anosognosia and the increase in emotional awareness were two prominent findings that appeared contradictory to the literature on right cerebral stroke. Such findings pointed to the usefulness of psychological interventions for this particular group of people, providing that their overall needs are also subjectively evaluated.

Conclusions: Undoubtably adopting a scientific endeavour is of absolute necessity particularly in the context of stroke and the impact this can have on the structural brain, ‘what’ is experienced emotionally and consequent behaviours. However, knowledge derived from such efforts will not be proficient in providing an understanding of ‘how it feels to be me’.

This study highlighted the usefulness of in-depth exploration of emotional experience post right hemisphere cerebral stroke with a focus on phenomenological inquiry as a methodological tool and existential philosophical ideas to mood and emotions as pillars to shed light on the research findings. Adopting this stance enabled the investigation of the current study to offer an alternative avenue of understanding such phenomena and provide some important pointers to aspects that might successfully support the process of post–right cerebral stroke emotional overcoming.