Resilience as governmentality : a narrative study within mental health.

Abstract

The study of resilience in individuals is typically conducted to enumerate the ways in which a person may be resilient to difficult life circumstances. Resilience, in this way, is seen as a means to overcoming adversity in order to succeed in life. In the current study, the concept of resilience is examined in terms of the way it may guide or limit the actions of individuals, as governmentality. Specifically, this study focuses on the lives of survivors of mental illness and ascertains the ways in which resilience affects how they have chosen, or have been taught, to manage their mental illness.