required to sign a written form of consent. They were informed that participation/non-participation in the project would not in any way influence their treat- ment. The researcher had no influence on the treatment of the patients. The in-patient status provided the possibility of immediate intervention if the interview should cause negative psychological reactions. Methods of analysis When analyzing the transcript texts we have followed the phenomenological hermeneutic method of Lindseth and Norberg (2004). Their method of text analysis is based on Ricoeur’s (1976) theory of interpretation. The analytical steps are first to gain an intuitive understanding of the whole text through iterated na¨ıve readings; the reading is na¨ıve in the sense that the researcher reads with a phenomen- ological attitude and dispensing what might be taken for granted in order to grasp the intuitive sense of the meaning of the text as a whole. The second step is to explain the text through a structural analysis by identifying meaning units and condensing them by formulating sub-themes and themes. Condensation is a way to make sense of each meaning units in everyday words as concisely as possible. Finally, a comprehensive understanding of the whole text was formulated through critical reflection on the findings of the previous steps. All quotes have been translated from Norwegian by the first author. Patients will hereafter be referred to as informants due to this role being most important with respect to the interviews. Na¨ıve reading After repeated readings of the interviews, we formu- lated an intuitive sense of the meaning of the text as a whole. When we arranged the narrated events chron- ologically we could see that the informants were telling about difficulties leading up to the present suicidal crisis, what they thought and experienced during the present suicidal crisis, and what they had experienced at the hospital and were hoping for at present. At the core of their descriptions were the participants’ perceptions of living in relation to others and of their feelings and reactions toward them. The experience of hope revealed by the narrative accounts was one of hope as relational. Such relational hope was experienced in a number of ways over time. With respect to the time before and during the suicidal crisis, they described how hopes directed toward others had been disappointed, hopes of escaping trouble through suicide, hopes of Relational hopes reunion in death, and hopes of being remembered. With respect to the present situation, they described hopes of getting help and treatment, hopes of restoring health and social position, hopes of being accepted and understood, and hopes of establishing new or improved relations to significant others. This led to the conjecture about the overall meaning of the text as hope is relational. Structural analysis In the initial part of the structural analysis, the identified meaning units of the narratives were con- densed into 20 sub-themes. Nine of the sub-themes referred to the domain of social relations, for example, ‘‘hopes of gaining acceptance from others,’’ ‘‘hopes for community with others,’’ and ‘‘hopes of being re- membered.’’ Seven sub-themes, like ‘‘hope to get well,’’ ‘‘hope to be happy,’’ and ‘‘hope to escape from something’’ referred to internal conditions of the informant. The last four, ‘‘hope with or without limits,’’ ‘‘hope with or without agency,’’ ‘‘hope talked about as an object,’’ and ‘‘hope as compulsory action’’ described the activity of hoping itself. Meaning was constructed across the above sub- themes, and condensed into three themes, involving the meaning of (a) hopes for life; (b) hopes for death; and (c) the act of hoping. Below, the findings will be presented according to the meanings assigned to the sub-themes by the researchers, and thus be held as interpretive filters through which subjective experi- ence is conveyed. We have chosen the most relevant quotes to explain the themes. Results The themes, hopes for life, hopes for death, and the act of hoping described the diversity in experiencing hope. Table I illustrates how the comprehensive understanding is supported by the themes, sub- themes, and units of meaning. The meaning of hopes for life The constructed meaning of hopes for life relates to how the informants describe their hopes for a future life. Some of these hopes concern internal conditions of the informant. They express that they want to get well, be happy, be more accepting toward themselves or have strength: ‘‘I want to get on my feet again, and I want to go forward.’’ When asked what she meant about getting on her feet, she said: ‘‘I have . . . a need to get control over myself again.’’ However, such expressions of hope are placed in a context of the informants being woven Citation: Int J Qualitative Stud Health Well-being 2010, 5: 4651 - DOI: 10.3402/qhw.v5i1.4651 3 (page number not for citation purpose)