Digital Archive of Mental Health Narratives

Authors

Elisabeth Anna Muldowney, Brigham Young University
Jon Balzotti, Brigham Young University

Keywords

digital archive, mental health, eating disorders

College

Humanities

Department

English

Abstract

Narratives have the power to help people understand experiences that are foreign to them. But narratives focusing only on a single dimension of a story have the potential to cause harm, as many popular depictions of eating disorders demonstrate. Common eating disorder narratives often correctly acknowledge that mental health challenges occur in result-driven communities. The category “result-driven” refers to environments that associate value and success with physically measurable achievements or unrealistic aesthetics. Some of these communities include dance, sports, acting, and modeling. Recent research has suggested categorizing religious groups with communities that potentially contribute to eating disorders.¹

Recommended Citation

Muldowney, Elisabeth Anna and Balzotti, Jon (2016) "Digital Archive of Mental Health Narratives," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2016: Iss. 1, Article 122.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2016/iss1/122