Social network activation: The role of health discussion partners in recovery from mental illness

Abstract

In response to health problems, individuals may strategically activate their social network ties to help manage crisis and uncertainty. While it is well-established that social relationships provide a crucial safety net, little is known about who is chosen to help during an episode of illness. Guided by the Network Episode Model, two aspects of consulting others in the face of mental illness are considered. First, we ask who activates ties, and what kinds of ties and networks they attempt to leverage for discussing health matters. Second, we ask about the utility of activating health-focused network ties. Specifically, we examine the consequences of network activation at time of entry into treatment for individuals' quality of life, social satisfaction, ability to perform social roles, and mental health functioning nearly one year later. Using interview data from the longitudinal Indianapolis Network Mental Health Study (INMHS, N = 171), we focus on a sample of new patients with serious mental illness and a group with less severe disorders who are experiencing their first contact with the mental health treatment system. Three findings stand out. First, our results reveal the nature of agency in illness response. Whether under a rational choice or habitus logic, individuals appear to evaluate support needs, identifying the best possible matches among a larger group of potential health discussants. These include members of the core network and those with prior mental health experiences. Second, selective activation processes have implications for recovery. Those who secure adequate network resources report better outcomes than those who injudiciously activate network ties. Individuals who activate weaker relationships and those who are unsupportive of medical care experience poorer functioning, limited success in fulfilling social roles, and lower social satisfaction and quality of life later on. Third, the evidence suggests that social networks matter above and beyond the influence of any particular individual or relationship. People whose networks can be characterized as having a pro-medical culture report better recovery outcomes.

Social Support Networks and the Mental Health of Runaway and Homeless Youth

“…In this paper, we focus on the personal support networks of youth, or the set of people that youth perceive to be available to them as potential sources of social support. This sub-set of individuals' broader social networks have been found to be particularly influential when it comes to understanding people's mental health status and/or their use of mental health services (Perry and Pescosolido 2015;Wellman 2007). Personal support networks, however, have been measured operationally in a variety of ways (Scott 2017;Wellman 2007).…”

“…The parent project, on which this study is based, operationalized RHY's personal support networks as the number of connections youth perceived to be available across four relationship domains (i.e., family, friends, adults, and professionals) to "talk to" and/or "depend on" regarding important matters. The "important matters" approach to enumerating the number and describing the composition of personal support networks has been used successfully across a wide-range of general social surveys, as well as more specialized studies of mental health (see for example (Marsden 1987;Perry et al 2017;Perry and Pescosolido 2015)). This ego-centered approach to collecting network data typically captures the core supports in a person's life who actively provide various forms of emotional, instrumental, and/or informational support, which are especially important for maintaining mental health and managing stress (Perry et al 2017).…”

Autonomy and Severe Mental Illness: The Relationship between Social Network and Functioning

“…However, supported socialization has been found to increase functioning, self-esteem and social networks among persons with mental illness [7,14]. In light of these findings, autonomy as a capacity should not solely be understood in terms of internal cognitive factors, but also take into consideration the social surrounding of the individual.…”

“…Empirical research, on the other hand, indicates that the access to social network might enable functioning [7,14].…”

Cognitive Theories of Depression in Online Peer Support Forums: Exploring the Cognitive Triad

“…Breuer and Barker (2015) report mixed findings, with participants describing a reduction in depressive symptomology over a ten-week period alongside concern over harming others or themselves because of OF interaction. Whilst further investigation is needed to determine whether OF environments reduce symptoms (Griffiths et al, 2012;Melling & Houguet-Pincham, 2011), access to appropriate networks for health discussion has been found to be important for illness recovery (Perry & Pescosolido, 2015), and so seeking social support may be viewed as a form of help-seeking behaviour. Use of an OF for this purpose reflects both the significance of the internet as a resource for mental health information (Powell & Clarke, 2006), and the utility of internet forums for providing support for depression (Savolainen, 2011).…”