What are Mental Disorders? Exploring the Role of Culture in the Harmful Dysfunction Approach.

A shared problem in psychology, psychiatry, and philosophy is how to define mental disorders. Various theories have been proposed, ranging from naturalism to social constructionism. In this article, I first briefly introduce the current landscape of such theories, before concentrating on one of the most influential approaches today: The harmful dysfunction theory developed by Jerome Wakefield.

Is Another kind of Biologization Possible? On Biology and the psy Sciences.

The relationship between biology and the psy disciplines (psychology, psychiatry, and psychotherapy) is a complex one. Many scholars have criticized how these disciplines have been biologized in the 20th century, especially since the emergence of psychopharmacology, neuroscience, and genetic research. However, biology is not just a laboratory-based science of chemical compounds, scanners, and DNA sequencing, but also a field science based on observations of organisms in their milieus.

Embodied relational research: How can researchers' competences in exploring existential aspects be enhanced?

Background: This methodological essay discusses the following question: How can researchers' competences in exploring existential aspects related to healthcare be enhanced? Exploring this novel perspective on caring practice may help us better understand and communicate about experiences and issues that matter to others (e.g. patients/users).

Influence at work is a key factor for mental health - but what do contemporary employees in knowledge and relational work mean by "influence at work"?

Purpose: Common mental health problems are a substantial burden in many western countries. Studies have pointed out that work related factors can both increase and decrease the risk of developing mental health problems. Influence at work is a key factor relating the psychosocial work environment to employees mental health.

Me and us: Cultivating presence and mental health through choir singing.

Background: An increasing body of qualitative and quantitative research suggests that choir singing can improve mental and physical health and wellbeing. A recurring phenomenon is social agency and social and emotional competences. However, there is little consensus about the underlying impact mechanisms and the special nature of music as a medium for music-based social-emotional competence.

Moving On Our Feet: For a Nomadic Psychology.

Zagaria, Andò and Zennaro have provided a useful analysis of the theoretical precariousness of psychology by looking at a number of its core concepts. They propose that evolutionary psychology could be a unifying approach for the otherwise fragmented discipline. In this response, I argue that although evolutionary psychology provides many interesting perspectives on the mental life of human beings, it is much too soon to jump to a unifying conclusion for psychology on its basis.

From Doxastic to Epistemic: A Typology and Critique of Qualitative Interview Styles.

Qualitative interview styles have been guided by precedent within academic disciplines. The nature of information sought, and the role of interviewer and interviewee are key determinants across styles, which range from doxastic (focused on understanding interviewees' experiences or behaviors) to epistemic (focused on co-constructing knowledge). In this article, we position common interview styles along a doxastic-epistemic continuum, and according to the role of the interviewee (from respondent to equal partner).

"I´m the one who has written this": reciprocity in writing courses for older adults in Norway.

: The aim of this article is to explore, theoretically and empirically, the reciprocity of care afforded by writing courses as community interventions for older adults. : We narratively analyzed 209 excerpts of the anthology "I´m the one who has written this" written by teachers and participants of courses organized by the Church City Mission in Norway. : The reciprocity that appeared in the writing courses is grounded in the sense of vulnerability that both teachers and participants embraced, and that is experienced in three main relational movements that these writing courses convey: self-exploration, otherness and togetherness.

Qualitative Interview Studies of Working Mechanisms in Electronic Health: Tools to Enhance Study Quality.

Future development of electronic health (eHealth) programs (automated Web-based health interventions) will be furthered if program design can be based on the knowledge of eHealth's working mechanisms. A promising and pragmatic method for exploring potential working mechanisms is qualitative interview studies, in which eHealth working mechanisms can be explored through the perspective of the program user. Qualitative interview studies are promising as they are suited for exploring what is yet unknown, building new knowledge, and constructing theory.

General Psychological Implications of the Human Capacity for Grief.

Much theorizing in psychology and related disciplines begins with a given model of the mind that is then applied in research projects to study concrete phenomena. Sometimes psychological research can be theory-driven in quite an explicit way, approaching the logic of the hypothetico-deductive method. Others reject this and prefer to work inductively, and, in the extreme case of positivism, perhaps try to avoid theorizing altogether.

Perils and potentials in qualitative psychology.

Famously, Ebbinghaus declared that psychology has a long past, but only a short history. Psychology, as something implicit to human conduct, is as old as the human race, but the science, as an explicit investigative reflection upon that conduct, is a recent invention. Within the short history of psychology, we find an even shorter history of qualitative psychology specifically.

How do workers with common mental disorders experience a multidisciplinary return-to-work intervention? A qualitative study.

Purpose: Long-term sick leave due to common mental disorders (CMD) is an increasing problem in many countries. Recent reviews indicate that return to work (RTW) interventions have limited effect on reducing sickness absence among this group of sick-listed. The aims of this study were to investigate how sick-listed persons with CMD experienced participating in an RTW intervention and how workability assessments and RTW activities influenced their RTW-process, and to examine the working mechanisms of the intervention.

Meta-synthesis of qualitative research on return to work among employees with common mental disorders.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate which opportunities and obstacles employees with common mental disorders (CMD) experience in relation to return to work (RTW) and how they perceive the process of returning to work. In addition, the study explores what characterizes an optimal RTW intervention and points to possible ways to improve future interventions for employees with CMD.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted, and eight qualitative studies of medium or high quality published between 1995-2011 were included in this systematic review.

The mind as skills and dispositions: on normativity and mediation.

On the occasion of the critique of Alfredo Gaete and Carlos Cornejo, this article explains and extends the hybrid theory of the mind that I recently presented in this journal. Taking inspiration from Rom Harré's program for a hybrid psychology, the theory is supposed to be integrative and aims to broaden Harré's hybrid psychology by including not just the brain, but also the body, social practices, and technological artifacts as mediators of the mind. The mind is understood not as a substance of any kind, but as a set of skills and dispositions to act, think, and feel.

Towards an expansive hybrid psychology: integrating theories of the mediated mind.

This article develops an integrative theory of the mind by examining how the mind, understood as a set of skills and dispositions, depends upon four sources of mediators. Harré's hybrid psychology is taken as a meta-theoretical starting point, but is expanded significantly by including the four sources of mediators that are the brain, the body, social practices and technological artefacts. It is argued that the mind is normative in the sense that mental processes do not simply happen, but can be done more or less well, and thus are subject to normative appraisal.