Narratives of melancholy: Sense of self in depression from asylums to neuropsychiatry
Abstract
My research offers a critical and historical appraisal of changing notions of the self as expressed in narratives associated with "melancholia" or depressive illness. Depression has been described both as a disease and as a way of life and, at the same time as an illness and an identity. When viewed as a disease, depression is often treated as separate from the self, however those experiencing depression may not separate their moods from who they are. Engaging a selection of first-person and literary narratives that span the periods from the state hospital movement to deinstitutionalization and community mental health care, I explore the changing political and socio-cultural determinants of ideas about the self and depression as a means of critically evaluating the thinking behind current models of care.
Recommended Citation
Deborah P Flynn,
"Narratives of melancholy: Sense of self in depression from asylums to neuropsychiatry"
(January 1, 2008).
Doctoral Dissertations
(Off Campus access).
Paper AAI3333056.
http://escholar.salve.edu/dissertations/AAI3333056
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