Storying mental illness: In-depth analyses of life stories from 140 individuals with mental illness

Mental illness affects many individuals each year, both those who themselves suffer from mental illness and their close others. Much research focuses on understanding the etiology of mental illness and how to treat symptoms of mental illness, but etiology and symptoms are only part of the picture in understanding mental illness. Knowledge about how individuals with mental illness experience the consequences of living with mental illness and how they may gain a life that they value is much needed. Such knowledge can help us develop interventions that help individuals recover from their mental illness by supporting them in finding new sources of identity, value and meaning in life to counter the losses they have suffered as a consequence of their mental illness.

With my colleagues, I have collected life stories from 140 individuals with schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, depression, and bipolar disorder. I will conduct in-depth analyses of the life stories to extract themes relating to my two main questions: 1) What did mental illness do to their identity and their lives? and 2) Was anything helpful in gaining value and meaning in life and if yes, what helped?. The themes will be presented using extensive quotes from our participants. Based on the findings, I will develop systematic guides to assessing consequences of living with mental illness and factors that could be helpful in gaining a life that is valued. The guidelines will provide health care professionals and researchers with tools to examine and facilitate recovery.