Towards self-discovery : elucidating adolescent intra-psychic tensions

• Main Author: Moorsom, Stephanie
• Published: City University London 2011
• Subjects: 155; BF Psychology
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.544441

In this research piece I set out to shed light on narratives of recovery from adolescent depression. I interview ten adults in their twenties, both male and female who deem themselves to have recovered from adolescent depression, and I analyse their stories from the perspective of Narrative Oriented Inquiry (Hiles & Cermak, 2008). A full picture emerges of individuals who have come to make sense of their experiences of teenage depression by casting their recovery in terms of processes of self-discovery. I specify that participants universally evoke a sense of themselves as being composed of various constituent "parts". Recovery, for participants, involves a redefinition of how one relates to one's vulnerable parts within the context of a multifaceted sense of identity. I conclude the research by situating this finding in its socio-cultural context and by relating it to existing theory pertaining to the phenomenon of multiplicity of mind.