Description
Postpartum depression is a prevalent condition, and preliminary data suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic further increased its incidence. Building on scholarship that has shown the value of exploring patients’ narratives for diagnosis and treatment, this study examines narratives of recovery in an online support forum, using theories of narrative identity. An online forum with 64 participants suffering from postpartum depression was analyzed according to grounded theory. A thematic analysis uncovered two dominant narratives: the full recovery or inevitable progress narrative, and the cyclical recovery or struggle as norm narrative. This study illustrates the complicated interaction between medical institutions, recovery narratives, and identity.
Publication Date
1-1-2024
Publisher
Atlantic Journal of Communication- Routlecge
Keywords
Psychology; Postpartum Depression; COVID-19; Medical; Health; Pregnancy; Women; Mothers
Department
Communication Studies
Recommended Citation
Miller, Alanna R. and Stana, Alexandru, "Struggling to Recover or Recovering the Struggle: A Critical Examination of Recovery Narratives as Discourses-in-Practice for People Suffering from Postpartum Depression" (2024). Communication Studies Faculty Works. 59.
https://openriver.winona.edu/communicationstudiesfacultyworks/59
Unique Identifier
2024-Miller and Stana-Struggling to recover or recovering the struggle
Comments
Alanna R. Miller & Alexandru Stana (2024) Struggling to recover or recovering the struggle: a critical examination of recovery narratives as discourses-in-practice for people suffering from postpartum depression, Atlantic Journal of Communication, 32:5, 733-746, DOI: 10.1080/15456870.2023.2263605