School of Journalism and Communication, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
Qual Health Res. 2023 Jun;33(7):613-623. doi: 10.1177/10497323231160119. Epub 2023 Apr 12.
Drawing on observations of a Chinese online depression community, this article explored the members' sense making of depression by analyzing their narrative accounts of depression. Four types of sense making were predominant among the depression sufferers: complaining, regret, superiority, and discovery. The complaining narrative is the members' telling about the pain caused by family (parental control or neglect), school bullying, stress from study or work, and social norms. The regret narrative is the members' reflection on their habit of perfectionism and lack of self-disclosure. The superiority narrative is the members' attribution of depression to their intelligence and morality that surpass the average people. The discovery narrative is the members' novel understanding of the self, significant others, and key events. The findings suggest that the social and psychological explanation of the causes of depression, instead of the medical model, is popular among the Chinese patients. Their stories of depression are also stories of marginalization, visions for the future, and realizing the normalization of identity as depression patients. The findings have implications for public policy around support for mental health.
本文通过对一个中文线上抑郁群体的观察，分析其抑郁叙事，探讨了成员对抑郁的意义建构。抑郁患者主要有四种意义建构方式：抱怨、后悔、优越和发现。抱怨叙事是成员讲述家庭（父母控制或忽视）、校园欺凌、学习或工作压力以及社会规范给他们带来的痛苦。后悔叙事是成员对自己完美主义习惯和缺乏自我表露的反思。优越叙事是成员将抑郁归因于他们超越常人的智慧和道德。发现叙事是成员对自我、重要他人和关键事件的新认识。研究结果表明，社会心理因素对抑郁病因的解释，而非医学模式，在中国患者中很流行。他们的抑郁故事也是边缘化、对未来的憧憬和认同自己为抑郁患者的故事。这些发现对心理健康支持方面的公共政策有一定的启示意义。
