Mental health is not just what is in our heads. Mental health is also a communicative and linguistic matter. We have many different terms and labels to describe how we feel. When we talk to others about our mental health, we often feel better. Talk therapy is seen as one of the gold standard treatments for mental health. This cluster focuses on investigating the linguistic and social construction of mental health experiences. In other words, our research focuses on people’s lived experiences of mental health, and the various linguistic strategies and functions of people narrating, describing, and accounting for, these experiences.

Mental health is not just what is in our heads. Mental health is also a communicative and linguistic matter. We have many different terms and labels to describe how we feel. When we talk to others about our mental health, we often feel better. Talk therapy is seen as one of the gold standard treatments for mental health. This cluster focuses on investigating the linguistic and social construction of mental health experiences. In other words, our research focuses on people’s lived experiences of mental health, and the various linguistic strategies and functions of people narrating, describing, and accounting for, these experiences.  We examine these topics by studying diverse populations and contexts such as end-of-life care workers in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, graduates in Hong Kong, medical students in Hong Kong, and white-collar workers in Hong Kong. The goal of our work is to utilize the findings of our research to inform the development of evidence-based strategies and tools to improve and support people’s mental health. 

 We examine these topics by studying diverse populations and contexts such as end-of-life care workers in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, graduates in Hong Kong, medical students in Hong Kong, and white-collar workers in Hong Kong. The goal of our work is to utilize the findings of our research to inform the development of evidence-based strategies and tools to improve and support people’s mental health.