IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v52y2006i3p243-255.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Common-Sense Descriptions of Depression as Social Representations

Author

Listed:
  • Hannu Räty

    (Department of Psychology, University of Joensuu, P.O. Box 111, 80101 Joensuu, Finland hannu.raty@joensuu.fi)

  • Seija Ikonen

    (Department of Psychology, University of Joensuu, Finland)

  • Kirsi Honkalampi

    (Department of Psychiatry, University of Kuopio, Finland)

Abstract

Background: Major depression is such a prevalent illness worldwide that practically everyone has either direct or indirect experience of it. It is important, then, from both practical and theoretical points of view, to examine this particular experience and related conceptions. Aim: Drawing on the theory of social representations, this research set out to examine the ways in which people define depression in terms of the symptoms they attribute to people they know personally and consider to suffer from depression. Method: A group of adult participants (n = 117) were instructed to think of an individual whom they knew personally and considered to suffer from depression, to indicate the age and gender of the person, and to describe his/her symptoms. Results: A great majority of the female participants thought of a female, while the male participants thought of male and female target persons quite evenly. The symptoms attributed to depression with fair unanimity included fatigue and decreased capacity to work, to concentrate, to make decisions and to take part in hobbies. The descriptions of the depressive person were quite unanimously distinguished from the signal symptoms attaching to schizophrenia. The descriptions varied according to the characteristics of the target individuals, and their gender and age in particular, rather than the characteristics of the participants. Conclusion: People have perceptive personal experiences of depression, which are guided by socially shared interpretative frameworks.

Suggested Citation

  • Hannu Räty & Seija Ikonen & Kirsi Honkalampi, 2006. "Common-Sense Descriptions of Depression as Social Representations," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 52(3), pages 243-255, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:52:y:2006:i:3:p:243-255
    DOI: 10.1177/0020764006067212
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020764006067212
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0020764006067212?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Natalia Shulman & Bryan Adams, 2002. "A Comparison of Russian and British Attitudes towards Mental Health Problems in the Community," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 48(4), pages 266-278, December.
    2. Walters, Vivienne, 1993. "Stress, anxiety and depression: Women's accounts of their health problems," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 393-402, February.
    3. Link, B.G. & Phelan, J.C. & Bresnahan, M. & Stueve, A. & Pescosolido, B.A., 1999. "Public conceptions of mental illness: Labels, causes, dangerousness, and social distance," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 89(9), pages 1328-1333.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Karine S Nersessova & Tomas Jurcik & Timothy L Hulsey, 2019. "Differences in beliefs and attitudes toward Depression and Schizophrenia in Russia and the United States," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 65(5), pages 388-398, August.
    2. Omar Hegazi & Samer Alalalmeh & Ahmad Alfaresi & Soheil Dashtinezhad & Ahmed Bahada & Moyad Shahwan & Ammar Abdulrahman Jairoun & Tesleem K. Babalola & Haya Yasin, 2022. "Development, Validation, and Utilization of a Social Media Use and Mental Health Questionnaire among Middle Eastern and Western Adults: A Pilot Study from the UAE," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-18, November.
    3. Wright, Annemarie & Jorm, Anthony F. & Mackinnon, Andrew J., 2011. "Labeling of mental disorders and stigma in young people," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(4), pages 498-506, August.
    4. Kathy Knox & Jasmina Fejzic & Amary Mey & Jane L Fowler & Fiona Kelly & Denise McConnell & Laetitia Hattingh & Amanda J Wheeler, 2014. "Mental health consumer and caregiver perceptions of stigma in Australian community pharmacies," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 60(6), pages 533-543, September.
    5. Ben Butlin & Keith Laws & Rebecca Read & Matthew D Broome & Shivani Sharma, 2019. "Concepts of mental disorders in the United Kingdom: Similarities and differences between the lay public and psychiatrists," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 65(6), pages 507-514, September.
    6. Yang, Lawrence H. & Purdie-Vaughns, Valerie & Kotabe, Hiroki & Link, Bruce G. & Saw, Anne & Wong, Gloria & Phelan, Jo C., 2013. "Culture, threat, and mental illness stigma: Identifying culture-specific threat among Chinese-American groups," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 56-67.
    7. Ahmed El Missiry & Marwa Abd El Meguid & Ahmed Abourayah & Marwa El Missiry & Mohamed Hossam & Hussien Elkholy & Afaf H Khalil, 2019. "Rates and profile of victimization in a sample of Egyptian patients with major mental illness," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 65(3), pages 183-193, May.
    8. Carpiano, Richard M. & Fitz, Nicholas S., 2017. "Public attitudes toward child undervaccination: A randomized experiment on evaluations, stigmatizing orientations, and support for policies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 127-136.
    9. Dobransky, Kerry, 2009. "The good, the bad, and the severely mentally ill: Official and informal labels as organizational resources in community mental health services," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(5), pages 722-728, September.
    10. Pinto-Foltz, Melissa D. & Logsdon, M. Cynthia & Myers, John A., 2011. "Feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy of a knowledge-contact program to reduce mental illness stigma and improve mental health literacy in adolescents," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(12), pages 2011-2019, June.
    11. Johan M. Berlin & Eric D. Carlström, 2015. "Cultural camouflage—a critical study of how artefacts are camouflaged and mental health policy subverted," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 111-126, April.
    12. Joseph S DeLuca & John Vaccaro & Jenna Seda & Philip T Yanos, 2018. "Political attitudes as predictors of the multiple dimensions of mental health stigma," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 64(5), pages 459-469, August.
    13. Yasuyuki Okumura & Shinji Sakamoto, 2012. "Depression treatment preferences among Japanese undergraduates: Using conjoint analysis," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 58(2), pages 195-203, March.
    14. Adrian Furnham & Elizabeth Anthony, 2010. "Lay Theories of Bipolar Disorder: the Causes, Manifestations and Cures for Perceived Bipolar Disorder," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 56(3), pages 255-269, May.
    15. Evgeny Knaifel & Rafael Youngmann & Efrat Neter, 2023. "Immigrant generation, acculturation, and mental health literacy among former Soviet Union immigrants in Israel," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 69(3), pages 724-734, May.
    16. Medina-Perucha, Laura & Scott, Jenny & Chapman, Sarah & Barnett, Julie & Dack, Charlotte & Family, Hannah, 2019. "A qualitative study on intersectional stigma and sexual health among women on opioid substitution treatment in England: Implications for research, policy and practice," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 315-322.
    17. Hsing-Jung Chao & Yin-Ju Lien & Yu-Chen Kao & I-Chuan Tasi & Hui-Shin Lin & Yin-Yi Lien, 2020. "Mental Health Literacy in Healthcare Students: An Expansion of the Mental Health Literacy Scale," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-15, February.
    18. Amy J Morgan & Anna Ross & Nicola J Reavley, 2018. "Systematic review and meta-analysis of Mental Health First Aid training: Effects on knowledge, stigma, and helping behaviour," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(5), pages 1-20, May.
    19. Stuber, Jennifer & Galea, Sandro & Link, Bruce G., 2008. "Smoking and the emergence of a stigmatized social status," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 420-430, August.
    20. Vyncke, Bart & Van Gorp, Baldwin, 2020. "Using counterframing strategies to enhance anti-stigma campaigns related to mental illness," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:52:y:2006:i:3:p:243-255. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.