Subjective theories of mental illness and their representation

Abstract

Sociological research about mental disorders often shifts in an ambivalent relationship in between medical (or therapeutic) discourses, in which it is either criticizing or looking for connectivity. Yet neither of these approaches do justice to the phenomenon as a sociological subject. One advantage of sociological basic research lies in its ability to disregard practical action. From a sociological perspective, the biographical narrative is not necessarily the expression of a disease pattern. It rather constitutes a solution to a specific representational problem: to give meaning to a certain course of life and experiences. From this »insider« perspective one can get an impression of how afflicted parties experience their illness and which social and biographical processes are connected to it. The analysis of the narrative interviews shows how participants reject professional illness attributions and how they manage to demonstrate that their life course cannot be measured by »normal« standards. The narratives that are generated leave the core of self intact (i.e. sane) without the need to fulfill the social behavior expectations towards the »normally« sane.