A sociological inquiry into the experience of mental health stigma.

Abstract

This research gives an account of the lived experience of mental health stigma affecting people who suffer from so-called common mental health conditions. The stigma that accompanies mental health conditions can be a devastating additional element that accompanies mental ill-health, and through first-person accounts of how lives are affected by stigma, I attempt to gain a deeper understanding of this reality. Using the method of phenomenological inquiry and an interpretive approach to my analysis, I highlight the macro and micro aspects of the social actor's life that is affected by stigma, drawing attention to the reality of symbolic violence (Pierre Bourdieu) as social agents (individuals and social institutions) exercise power against my informants via toxic systems of classification which impact upon the 'lifeworld' and practice / behaviour.