Still worlds apart: flourishing in people with mental health problems

Allen, Rosie; Carson, Jerome; Merrifield, Bethany; Bush, Stacey

doi:10.1108/mhsi-05-2020-0027

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…In a similar vein I have been learning from some of my younger students (Hurst and Carson 2021). We may be still worlds apart (Allen et al 2020), yet we have so much to learn from each other. As a University educator, our greatest loss of resource is that the vast majority of excellent and publishable work produced by our students sits dormant on electronic databases, never to see the light of day and never to inform others.…”

Section: Results and Discussion: Our Reflectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Laughter Really the Best Medicine? Reflecting on a Mental Health Initiative Using Pragmatic Collaborative Autoethnography

Gonot-Schoupinsky,

Neal,

Carson

2023

Journal of Applied Social Science

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This article relates to the potential of applied laughter in social science. Here, we explore the “Laughie Challenge Australia.” This community-based mental health initiative aims to get Australians laughing. We invite its instigator to discuss it, using a pragmatic qualitative research approach, Invited Collaborative Autoethnography (ICAE). Our purpose is to gain insight into the rationale and practicalities of using laughter to alleviate community mental health issues. Thus, we use ICAE instrumentally as a discourse platform to build understanding through joint narrative with a view of facilitating laughter community-science research collaborations. We recount the “story” of the Laughie Challenge, and the meeting of two academics and a community laughter leader, with a shared interest in the healing power of laughter and “real-world” laughter applications. ICAE enabled transparent, in-depth discourse. It has resulted in citizen science research to further advance knowledge in this area.

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Section: Results and Discussion: Our Reflectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Laughter Really the Best Medicine? Reflecting on a Mental Health Initiative Using Pragmatic Collaborative Autoethnography

Gonot-Schoupinsky,

Neal,

Carson

2023

Journal of Applied Social Science

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“…Perhaps this helps to explain that when looking at normative data, the flourishing scores for the severely lonely group are significantly lower. That is, the severely lonely group reported significantly lower flourishing scores equivalent to a sample of people seeking professional help for a mental illness (Allen et al., 2020). These findings pertain to the notion that severe loneliness is strongly associated with poor mental health outcomes and similarly that poor mental wellbeing is linked to increased loneliness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Loneliness and mental health at the early stages of the Covid‐19 pandemic in England

Allen

Prescott

McHugh

et al. 2021

Health Social Care Comm

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First of all, it is important to note that loneliness and isolation are two distinct concepts (Cacioppo et al., 2014). Indeed, it is possible to be lonely in the presence of other people or comparatively, be isolated from others without necessarily meaning you are lonely.Rather, loneliness is experienced when a person does not achieve the amount of, or quality of human connection and interaction as desired (Hawkley et al., 2008). The physical and psychological implications of loneliness are heavily researched. Loneliness is strongly associated with premature mortality (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2010), heart disease (Williams, 2016), problematic substance use (McKay et al., 2017) and the development of Alzheimer's disease (Donovan et al., 2016). Further, loneliness can be a risk factor for developing

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“…Quality of life research conducted by Jerome and colleagues showed an additional "gulf" between people who provided mental health services and those who used them (Carson et al, 1997;Missenden et al, 1996). More recently Rosie Allen and colleagues have shown significant differences in flourishing between people with mental health problems and community groups (Allen et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Our lives in three parts: an autoethnographic account of two undergraduates and their respective psychiatric careers

Voyce

Carson

2020

MHSI

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an autoethnographic account of the stories of a mental health professional and a mental health survivor. Design/methodology/approach Using the autoethnographic approach, the authors provide summaries of their respective psychiatric careers in three parts. Findings The authors studied at the same University, Reading. Voyce failed his Politics finals and embarked on a trajectory as a mental patient. Carson graduated in Psychology and trained as a clinical psychologist. The recovery movement brought them together, and they have now established an educational and personal bond. Research limitations/implications These are of course only two accounts, yet both authors have played a role in developing the recovery model in Britain. The accounts and story show the benefits of adopting a partnership approach between professional and service user. Practical implications Both accounts are recovery journeys in their own way. Both highlight the value of education for recovery. Social implications There is no doubt that clinical psychologists are both highly valued and well paid for their expertise. However, the expertise gained through Andrew’s life experience is equally invaluable for today’s mental health professionals to learn from, but perhaps not as well remunerated. Originality/value Both accounts stretch back over 45 years and have covered the move from institutional to community care. This paper presents two contrasting perspectives on these changes and the lives of the two people involved.

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Still worlds apart: flourishing in people with mental health problems

Cited by 5 publications

References 44 publications

Is Laughter Really the Best Medicine? Reflecting on a Mental Health Initiative Using Pragmatic Collaborative Autoethnography

Is Laughter Really the Best Medicine? Reflecting on a Mental Health Initiative Using Pragmatic Collaborative Autoethnography

Loneliness and mental health at the early stages of the Covid‐19 pandemic in England

Our lives in three parts: an autoethnographic account of two undergraduates and their respective psychiatric careers

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