On World Mental Health Day, University of Guelph Research Leadership Chair Dr. Stephen Lewis is using personal narratives to blend research, film and mental health advocacy.
In a departure from traditional research methods, Lewis worked with students to write, narrate and film a short documentary to communicate their own experiences with self-injury.
The film, Self-injury: Stories of Recovery and Hope, is the culmination of a project funded by a SSHRC Insight Development Grant. It uses a research method called participatory video, in which people directly affected by, or experiencing, the research topic collaborate to create a film that gives voice to the concerns that matter most to them. At its heart, it seeks to understand the world by trying to change it.
Lewis, a professor in the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences (CSAHS), says the method is less common in clinical or even mainstream psychology. "Participatory video offers a unique and powerful means to fuse research and advocacy," Lewis says. "It offers opportunities for empowerment and hope, while fostering a more compassionate understanding of experiences that are far too often stigmatized and marginalized in society."
In the film, it provided the participants with a platform to convey themselves in a natural, authentic and impactful way. They are experts in their own experience, and their stories need to be heard, Lewis adds.
Self-injury associates with anxiety, depression, trauma
Self-injury is a serious, common and significant mental health concern reported by up to 1 in 5 people worldwide, says Lewis, whose own lived experiences have informed his work.
Centring the voices of people who have experienced self-injury and related mental health adversities has created a paradigm shift in the field. He first spoke to this in a 2015 TEDx Talk and then in a published narrative. The emphasis on lived experience has since been at the core of his research program and in a book he co-authored, Understanding Self-Injury: A Person-Centered Approach.
The doc follows three students chronicling their experiences with self-injury, mental health challenges and recovery. From the development to the script writing, the narration, production and the filming, each facet involved someone with lived experience of self-injury.
Through personal narratives, they weave a human element through the research and illustrate the connection between self-injury and other mental health difficulties like depression, anxiety and trauma. Their hope is the film reaches viewers who might be facing similar struggles, so they've included both individual and collective messages of hope.
Lewis sees the film at the intersection of research and advocacy, particularly to combat the stigma of self-injury. Many people who have self-injured feel alone and misunderstood, he says.
"Because self-injury is still unfortunately incredibly stigmatized, the students didn't want to show their faces. It was critical to honour and respect that choice when creating the film."
Screening at Australian mental health film fest
Lewis' work in mental health research has always had an anti-stigma focus, a large part of which requires hearing and learning from people who have lived experience. "That's why we chose this method," he says of the film. "This is a very unique project that allowed each person to share their own story, in their own way and in their own words."
The film is an official selection for the Great Lakes Film Festival in Australia held this year on World Mental Health Day, which aims to de-stigmatize mental illness. It will also be part of the Festival of Ideas, at the Royal Society of Canada's annual conference in Montreal in November.
"This is the one of the most meaningful projects I've been a part of in my career," Lewis says. "It was an honour and privilege to work with these incredible people. Their stories were both inspiring and powerful. I am grateful for their willingness and strength to share their experiences as part of this project. And, from what they shared with us, I'd like to think they developed a sense of empowerment throughout this process."
You can watch Self-injury: Stories of Recovery and Hope on YouTube.
