Since I started in January, I have collected 26 interviews with young people experiencing depression and anxiety and mental health experts. In addition, I have established contact with several research participants, with whom I meet regularly, in order to get a broader picture of their daily lives and changes over time. During the next six months, I plan to organize at least 15 more new interviews, as well as conduct short catch-up conversations with the other participants of the interviews. So I am still looking for new research participants.
Currently, I have not yet created a summary of the research progress. I can only add that people’s experiences are very different. Taking care of mental health is not limited to a visit to a psychiatrist, therapist, or another professional specialist, but is a wide set of practices and experiences, which can include maintaining a certain daily shedule and socializing, as well as other more “non-traditional” approaches. It should also be noted that the idea of recovery is an ideal that does not correspond to the experiences of many individuals. The mental health struggles of my research participants do not always have a definite endpoint. Rather, managing such difficulties is part of their daily lives, which is an important perspective of this study.
I have added images from the research process to my Instagram account. To view them, click here.