"My dirty little habit": Patient constructions of antidepressant use and the 'crisis' of legitimacy.
Discontents surrounding depression are many, and include concerns about a creeping appropriation of everyday kinds of misery; divergent opinions on the diagnostic category(ies); and debates about causes and appropriate treatments. The somewhat mixed fortunes of antidepressants - including concerns about their efficacy, overuse and impacts on personhood - have contributed to a moral ambivalence around antidepressant use for people with mental health issues. Given this, we set out to critically examine how antidepressant users engage in the moral underpinnings of their use, especially how they ascribe legitimacy (or otherwise) to this usage. Using a modified constant comparative approach, we analyzed 107 narrative interviews (32 in UKa, 36 in UKb, 39 in Australia) collected in three research studies of experiences of depression in the UK (2003-4 UKa, and 2012 UKb) and in Australia (2010-11). We contend that with the precariousness of the legitimacy of the pharmaceutical treatment of depression, participants embark on their own legitimization work, often alone and while distressed. We posit that here, individuals with depression may be particularly susceptible to moral uncertainty about their illness and pharmaceutical interventions, including concerns about shameful antidepressant use and deviance (e.g. conceiving medication as pseudo-illicit). We conclude that while people's experiences of antidepressants (including successful treatments) involve challenges to illegitimacy narratives, it is difficult for participants to escape the influence of underlying moral concerns, and the legitimacy quandary powerfully shapes antidepressant use.
Department of Psychology, University of Westminster, 115 New Cavendish St, London W1W 6UW, UK. Electronic address: d.ridge@westminster.ac.uk.
Damien
D
Ridge
School of Social Sciences, Clayton Campus, Menzies Building, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia. Electronic address: renata.kokanovic@monash.edu.
Renata
R
Kokanovic
School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia. Electronic address: a.broom@unsw.edu.au.
Alex
A
Broom
Health Experiences Research Group, Gibson Building, 1st Floor, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6GG, UK. Electronic address: susan.kirkpatrick@phc.ox.ac.uk.
Susan
S
Kirkpatrick
School of Pharmacy, University Park, Nottingham University, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK. Electronic address: claire.Anderson@nottingham.ac.uk.
Claire
C
Anderson
School of Social Sciences, Clayton Campus, Menzies Building, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia. Electronic address: claire.tanner@monash.edu.
Claire
C
Tanner
D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001315:Australia; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009014:Morals; D036301:Qualitative Research; D057545:Social Stigma; D006113:United Kingdom
D000928:Antidepressive Agents
Antidepressants; Australia; Depression; Morality; Narrative interviews; Qualitative study; Stigma; UK