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Paper short abstract:

This presentation focuses on the recovery trajectory of those whom have previously been diagnosed with depression.

Paper long abstract:

The psychological and sociological literature regarding depression have largely neglected the study of individuals whom have recovered from it. These individuals, or "recovered depressives", remain voiceless within a climate which prematurely forecasts mental illness as something inevitably protracted and, in many cases, incurable. In order to ascertain the perspective of this group, audio-recorded, semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty university students who had not only sought treatment by a psychologist for either "depression" or "depressive symptoms", but who also currently self-identify as having "recovered". The interviews were transcribed verbatim, and an abductive, grounded-theory methodology was applied to analyse them. Based on this analysis, the author contends that the interviews reveal a particular sequence that the majority of participants underwent before arriving at the time-point at which they self-identified as "recovered" - a sequence that is termed "The Recovery Arc". Through applying a theoretical lens that synthesises Bourdieu, Archer, and Ravaisson, the author aims to show that "recovery" is largely the product of socialisation, where "being recovered" is a habit(us) that emerges through repetition: of either the modality of reflexivity one has been socialised into at prior moments, or the modality of reflexivity one has been externally provoked into adopting.