Micropolitics of Mental Health Recovery

An Assemblage Analysis of People’s Experiences of Becoming Well

Bibliographic Data

ID8908320
AuthorsJan Georg Friesinger (0000-0003-3462-8763, University of Agder, corresponding author), Alain Topor (0000-0001-5164-3370, University of Agder), Gunnhild Ruud Lindvig (0000-0002-2924-0329, University of Agder), Inger Beate Larsen (University of Agder)
Year2024
Volume61
Issue2
Pages270-280
Publication date2024-06-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCommunity Mental Health Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0010-3853 • E-ISSN: 1573-2789
PublisherSpringer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1007/s10597-024-01311-5
PMID38922508
OpenAlexW4400053808
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited53

Mental health recovery takes place in a social and material world. However, socio-material contexts have often been absent from recovery studies. The present study was conducted in Norway, a Scandinavian welfare country. We interviewed people at meeting places who had experiences as service users, focusing on their experiences of becoming well, and analyzed their recovery stories using an assemblage framework. Our analysis identified four constitutive dimensions that promote mental health recovery: an atmosphere of togetherness, doings as more than the act, personal development, and integration in society. We discuss how these dimensions might be seen as social, relational, and material forces that create important micropolitics that challenge the individualistic professionalization of the recovery concept

Archaeology · Assemblage (archaeology · Individualism · Mental health · Political science · Professionalization · Psychotherapist · Social science · Sociology · Welfare · History · Law · Mental Health and Patient Involvement · Mental Health and Psychiatry · Psychiatric care and mental health services · Psychology · Social Psychology