This research is examining how moralising narratives relating to individual responsibility and welfare entitlements influence the medicalisation of mental distress caused by material deprivation and social disadvantage.
In so doing, the research will inform a stated aim of the British Government's No Health Without Mental Health strategy to effectively reduce health inequalities amongst vulnerable groups (HM Government 2011), and respond to recent calls to prioritise research examining the social determinants of mental distress (Mental Health Taskforce 2015).
Working in two low-income communities, the interdisciplinary research team are using a range of qualitative methods to gain in-depth and applied understanding of the role moral narratives play in:
- influencing individuals' decisions to seek and accept medical support for mental distress;
- influencing healthcare consultation and prescribing practice.
This will provide an informed and nuanced contextualisation of data often missing from mental health research, and from low-income groups in particular.