Complaining, Regret, Superiority, and Discovery: Chinese Patients' Sense Making of Depression in an Online Forum

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.

Automated summary

Drawing on observations of a Chinese online depression community, this article explores the members' sense making of depression through analyzing their narrative accounts. Four types of sense making dominate among depression sufferers: complaining, regret, superiority, and discovery. The findings suggest that Chinese patients tend to favor social and psychological explanations for the causes of depression, rather than the medical model. Their stories of depression also highlight marginalization, future visions, and the normalization of identity as depression patients. These findings have implications for mental health support in public policy.