Mending the Broken Frame: Self-Narration in a Constructionist Framework

The communal construction of mental illness makes recovery a daunting challenge since society largely perceives the psychiatrically
ill as ‘deficient’. Not only does one have to deal with the illness itself, one additionally has to deal with the perpetual
stigma associated with the labeling, increasing the personal consequences of these illnesses. In my own journey through mental
illness, I have repeatedly tried to construct for myself those structures which would help me become stable and empower me
from within rather than rob me of my sense of self. This paper is a small expression of that narrative.