Living well with mental illness: Findings from India

S, Aswini and Deb, Amrita (2020) Living well with mental illness: Findings from India. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment. pp. 1-18. ISSN 1091-1359

Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)

Abstract

In India, mental illness is generally perceived as a lifetime adversity with high vulnerability to problems such as social marginalization, health hazards, and economic deprivation. But anecdotal evidence has shown that many individuals struggling with mental illness have led outstanding lives of courage, dignity and have contributed to society in different ways. Yet scientific research has not focused adequately on such cases and instead has largely studied negative outcomes associated with mental illness. The objective of the present study was to explore positive outcomes through the subjective experiences of individuals diagnosed with mental illness. Interviews of participants (n = 48) were analyzed using thematic analysis. The imperative finding was that despite mental illness and cumulative risks, participants were able to bounce back to a functional level and in a few instances even excelled in specific areas they engaged in. The major implication of such strength-based studies is that it highlights positive outcomes that can assist in building a life of wellness thereby challenging the deficit-based approach that is more popularly followed in studying mental illness. These findings establish that the possibility of living well even after being diagnosed with a mental illness is not a fictional likelihood, rather an achievable reality.

[error in script]
IITH Creators:
IITH CreatorsORCiD
S, AswiniUNSPECIFIED
Deb, AmritaUNSPECIFIED
Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: ental illness; personal narratives; recovery; resilience; well-being
Subjects: Literature
Social sciences
Divisions: Department of Computer Science & Engineering
Depositing User: . LibTrainee 2021
Date Deposited: 20 Jul 2021 05:31
Last Modified: 20 Jul 2021 05:31
URI: http://raiith.iith.ac.in/id/eprint/8452
Publisher URL: http://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2020.1838380
OA policy: https://iith.irins.org/profile/107613
Related URLs:

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item
Statistics for RAIITH ePrint 8452 Statistics for this ePrint Item