Mutual Help Among Patients Of Mental Depression :A Sociological Inquiry

This sociological thesis approaches and analyzes patterns of mutual help among people suffering from mental depression. Its theoretical framework is the concept of social support, which has been commonly used in analyses applied to patient studies. Unlike most previous studies that have explored external social support received by patients from non-patients, my study places an emphasis on mutual help among patients, which I call"internal social support."It is a valuable source of help for patients in addition to support they may receive from their families, hospitals or neighbors. Mutual help, I argue, enables patients to build a bridge of solidarity, take their own initiatives in life, and become reflexive of their physical or mental conditions. Not based on economic or social capital, mutual help among patients is rooted in the shared experiences of being ill. The empirical basis of this study is a survey of 177 patients who suffer from mental depression, plus a set of 64 personal interviews. Additional material for analysis comes from fieldwork in a mental hospital and participation in online chat groups. All the methods I have used in this study follow the principle of confidentiality.