Sense of self and social identity in people with unusual experiences
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Sense of self and social identity in people who have unusual exepriences: a qualitative investigation
IRAS ID
220312
Contact name
Lorna Hogg
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bath
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Psychosis can be a very distressing mental health problem usually involving a disruption to sense of reality. It includes unusual experiences such as hearing voices or paranoia that can affect the ability to relate to other people. We know from previous research that people developing psychosis often report the loss of a positive sense of who they are and this seems to be partly related to the stigma surrounding psychosis. Other research has indicated that rebuilding a sense of self is crucial to successful recovery and central to this is having meaningful relationships with other people, i.e. belonging to social groups that make you feel better about who you are as a person, or having positive social identities. This can include belonging to a group of people who also experience psychosis.
This study will investigate the role that belonging to different social groups might play in sense of self in the process of developing, and recovering from, psychosis. How people understand their psychosis will be investigated together with attitudes towards, and relationships with, others with psychosis. How this develops and changes with time will also be investigated and how this relates to outcome, specifically whether a more positive perception of what it means to have psychosis is associated with better outcomes in terms of coping and self-esteem and, if so, if this is also associated with closer contact with others who have similar experiences.
This will be a qualitative study involving interviewing participants (60-90 minutes)recruited at different stages of developing and recovering from psychosis and from different sources. This will make it possible to investigate the different social identities associated with the experience of psychosis.
Most clinical interventions for this patient group are individually-focussed, so it is hoped that this study might suggest ways of improving treatments through adding a social dimension.
REC name
South West - Frenchay Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/SW/0055
Date of REC Opinion
27 Apr 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion