| dc.description.abstract | While depression is known to be prevalent among university students (Ibrahim et al. 2013), there
has been little research on how students deal with this in day-to-day life. Drawing on 21 semistructured interviews with university students who have a medical or self-diagnosis of
depression, this qualitative study aims to explore the social experiences with the condition. This
study has four main objectives: to learn if university students with depression experience stigma
and the impacts of this experience, if and how they decide to open up to people about their
depression, how depression impacts their daily lives, and how media depictions of depression
impact student comprehension of their own depression. Schutz’s (1967) and Berger and
Luckmann’s (1966) notion of “typifications” is used to explore how students encounter and
interpret mass media representations of depression. The mass media was considered influential
in shaping peer understandings of depression and in turn their relationships with others. I draw
on Goffman’s (1963) theory of stigma to understand how students decide whether to conceal
their depression from others or disclose it in order to receive support. I conclude by discussing
the implications for understanding the impact of depression in everyday life as well as policy
recommendations for student services. | en_US |
