Discourse analytic research on mental distress: a critical overview

Abstract

Background: Discourse analytic approaches to mental distress have been developed in the last two decades as part of the broader social constructionist movement in psychology. Aims. The paper reviews existing discourse analytic studies on issues pertaining to mental distress, aiming to identify strengths and gaps in the existing literature as well as to assess their contribution to conceptualizing and managing distress.

Method: Discourse analytic and social constructionist studies of different aspects of mental distress, conducted within the field of psychology, were identified and reviewed.

Results: The studies reviewed have been organized in four themes: (a) exploring users' accounts and experiences, (b) examining professional accounts and practices, (c) focusing on mental health-related public texts and (d) deconstructing clinical categories.

Conclusions: The main function of discourse analytic studies on mental distress has been to highlight the historically contingent and socially constructed character of professional forms of knowledge and practice. More specifically, this research trend has highlighted the discursive resources drawn upon to conceptualize mental distress, the discursive practices through which specific versions of distress are constructed and the discursive effects of these constructions for institutions, subjectivity and social practices.