Symptom or Sickness? - A sociological (re)imagination of the high rates of anxiety, depression, and self-harm amongst young adults in Ireland as social pathologies through interviews with counsellors
Loading...
Files
Date
2023
Authors
Meyer, Melissa Isabella
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University College Cork
Published Version
Abstract
This multi-disciplinary, qualitative study investigated the high rates of mental illness and distress amongst young adults in Ireland through the perspectives of the counsellors and therapists that they turn to for help. The study explored whether viewing these high rates of pathologies as ‘social pathologies’ might offer new and valuable insight into the problem. This was done by relying on equal parts interdisciplinary literature and interview data in trying to establish what it was about this generation that made them more susceptible to ill-being. Data was collected through the Delphi method with two rounds of in-depth interviews (N = 16) and analysed through reflexive thematic analysis. The participants were counsellors and therapists who self-identified as working with young adults at colleges in Ireland and on the IACP website’s databases.
Findings suggest that the most dominant underlying factor was social acceleration, as conceptualised by Hartmut Rosa, and its damaging consequences on the individual’s self-concept and relation to themselves and their world. Interviewees reported that young people today seem to be suffering from a ‘performance anxiety’ as they’re caught between the need to ‘keep up’ at all costs and that perceived failure is experienced as a profoundly distressing personal flaw, which is greatly intensified by social media and the highly competitive nature of contemporary life in educational, occupational, and social spheres. The resulting mental distress young people experience was reconceptualised as ‘strains’ using an adapted model of general strain theory. This enabled us to map out how these strains developed and what can be done to intervene in a way that is more effective and sustainable.
The thesis concludes with recommendations on how therapists can be empowered through training that incorporates a more robust socio-political understanding, and efforts to encourage employment in trades for young people instead of conventional higher education.
Description
Controlled Access
Keywords
Social pathologies , Mental health , Young adults , Counsellors , Social acceleration , Strain , Multi-disciplinary research , Delphi method
Citation
Meyer, M. I. 2023. Symptom or Sickness? - A sociological (re)imagination of the high rates of anxiety, depression, and self-harm amongst young adults in Ireland as social pathologies through interviews with counsellors. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.