Gradual Loss of Homelikeness in Exhaustion Disorder

Our aim with the present study was to explore the lived experiences of the process leading to exhaustion. Within a hermeneutic phenomenological perspective, semistructured interviews were conducted with eleven individuals on sick leave because of exhaustion disorder. The findings were interpreted as a process of five stages of losing one's homelikeness in the body and in the familiar world: (a) the body calling for attention, (b) loss of self-recognition, (c) uncanniness, (d) fighting for survival, and (e) existential breakdown. Findings help us to identify early signs of exhaustion disorder and highlight the need for treatments that focus on bodily experiences and habitual stress-related patterns. Helping the patient to regain homelikeness is an important treatment goal.