Unraveling

An Autoethnography of Suicide and Renewal
1. Auflage 2023
ISBN: 978-1-032-34651-9
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 214 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 321 g

Reihe: Writing Lives: Ethnographic Narratives

Unraveling: An Autoethnography of Suicide and Renewal is an autoethnographic story that explores the intricate relationship among trauma, marginality, and mental health.

It follows Mike Alvarez, a precocious gay teenager from an immigrant Filipino family, who loses his grip on reality as he succumbs to so-called mental illness. Divided into two parts, the first half of the book uses evocative storytelling and in-the-moment narration to capture the slow descent into anxiety, paranoia, depression, and suicidality, as experienced by the author during young adulthood. The second half of the book critically reflects upon the story through a series of analytic chapters. In these chapters, the author considers the role of narrative in cultivating empathy for the mentally ill, the psychiatric-industrial complex’s obstruction of that empathy, and the moral dilemmas autoethnographers face when writing about self, other, and the social world.

This book will be suitable for scholars in the social sciences, communication studies, and healthcare, who study and use autoethnography in their research. It will also be of value to those interested in firsthand accounts of madness, as told by members of marginalized communities.

Zielgruppe

Academic, Postgraduate, and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Alvarez, M. F.

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychologie / Allgemeines & Theorie Psychologische Forschungsmethoden
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein Empirische Sozialforschung, Statistik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

PART I: THE STORY Prologue 1: Onset Interlude 1 2: Recurrence Interlude 2 3: Engulfment Interlude 3 4: Implosion Interlude 4 5: Fragmentation Interlude 5 6: Admission Interlude 6 7: Asylum Interlude 7 8: Discharge Interlude 8 9: Convalescence Interlude 9 10: Renewal Epilogue; PART II: REFLECTIONS Reflection 1: The Fragmented Dramaturgy of Madness Reflection 2: Problematizing Mental Illness, Suicide, and Recovery Reflection 3: The Relational Ethics of Autoethnography

Über Autor(innen)

M. F. Alvarez is Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of New Hampshire, USA, where he teaches mental health communication, end of life communication, human communication and technology, and film studies. He is the recipient of an Outstanding Creative Project/Performance Award from the National Communication Association, Asian/Pacific American Studies Division and Caucus.