Young People Negotiating the Stigma Around their Depression

This study explored how young people negotiated the stigma associated with depression. The study methodology involved collecting written narratives, as well as conducting asynchronous online group discussions and online individual interviews with young Finnish people who self-identified as being depressed. Theoretical insights of the study were drawn from dialogicality and symbolic interactionism. Examining patterns in the participants' experiences and perceptions revealed their reliance on two stigmatizing cultural conceptions-'depression as a mental illness' and 'depression as a matter of pulling oneself together'-to account for why they were perceived as abnormal, and for the absence of empathy for their distress. To cope with these stigmatizing conceptions, they resorted to reframing their experience of 'depression as a normal but serious affliction'. The study's results highlight the importance of information dissemination (in schools, through media, etc.) regarding harmful as well as helpful ways to give meaning and respond to depressive experiences.