‘A Process You May be Entering’ – Decision-Making and Burnout in Mental Healthcare: an Existentially Informed Hermeneutic

Abstract

A hermeneutic phenomenological analysis revealed that senior mental health practitioners experience their decisions as ‘terrifying,’ ‘weighty’ and ‘painful,’ feeling exposed, under scrutiny. When imposing unwanted choices on others they claim they only do that which their role requires. A move towards inclusive decision-making is unlikely while practitioners promote fragile certainties