Living With Depression: Resisting Labels and Constructing Pathways to Empowerment.

Abstract Although advances in clinical approaches to depression have led to improvements in treatment outcomes, for individuals experiencing depression, the process of negotiating access to medical, financial and social resources remains a significant challenge. In the process of this negotiation, individuals must choose to accept or reject social and medical labels, subsequently coming to enact roles of dependence, rejection or empowerment. This thesis is the final product of a qualitative research inquiry into the lived-experiences of those who have experienced depression and their families and carers. Using principles of narrative theory and a “guided, in-depth” approach, testimony from 11 participants was obtained through a one-on-one interview, a family interview and a focus group discussion. A model entitled “Power, Agency and Performance” is proposed as a way to explain how Foucauldian notions of power and agency, combined with Durkheim‟s concept of declassification can influence the individual‟s ability to construct pathways of empowerment towards recovery. Using Foucault‟s bio-power concept this thesis argues that depression exists within an Interactive Space that includes clinical, government and social contexts. A model entitled “The Interactive Space of the Contexts of depression” is presented to explain the concept of Interactive Space. According to this model, the individual must interact in simultaneous relationships with and within these contexts, which are themselves also involved in dynamic relationships with each other. Specific issues of consequences within the clinical context, deinstitutionalisation, carers and families, and church Involvement are also raised and discussed. Through this thesis, I argue that although there may be biological and psychological elements, depression must also be seen equally as a social phenomenon. Further research into depression, therefore, must not focus solely on symptoms, causes and potential cures, but also on how individuals can be empowered to construct pathways towards recovery