title: The experience of mental distress and recovery among people involved with the service user/survivor movement.
abstract: This article examines how the personal experiences of mental distress of people involved in the British service user/survivor movement were shaped or transformed by this involvement, and the impact of involvement on their recovery journeys. The analysis was based on 12 in-depth interviews with service users/survivors who are, or were once, involved with the service user/survivor movement. Three large themes were identified regarding the ways in which social movement involvement affected the personal experience of mental distress: (a) making sense and reframing mental distress, (b) the social experience of involvement and (c) identity and identity reconstruction. We discuss how some features of the service user/survivor movement, such as self-help, user involvement, the centrality of experience to collective action, and the range of political positions adopted by activists can affect experience and recovery in different forms. As an exploratory study that looks into a complex topic, our findings illuminate the ways of surviving, recovering and experiencing mental distress in the context of a significant social movement.
authors.affiliation: University of Évora, Portugal; École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, France carolchassot@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Carolina S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Chassot
authors.affiliation: University of Évora, Portugal; Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology, University Institute of Lisbon (CIES-IUL), Portugal.
authors.forename: Felismina
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mendes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008875:Middle Aged; D028701:Patient Rights; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D012922:Social Change; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: mental distress; mental health; recovery; service user/survivor movement