This summer, the Discovery Research Platform for Medical Humanities launched the SUNRISE project, along with the McPin Foundation. Together, we will be exploring how research into the subjective experiences of depression, anxiety and psychosis is conducted and valued within the mental health research field.
We will be mapping the current landscape of subjective experiences in mental health research, looking at the ways this kind of experience-focussed research is recorded and shared. Throughout, we will be asking the question: in what ways could greater engagement with subjective experience be useful or appropriate in future research efforts?
The centring of people with lived experience is at the heart of our work, so we’re excited to take on this commissioned study from Wellcome. We have convened an international advisory group, including lived experience experts, which will inform and shape what we are doing at every stage of the project.
Our aim is that this work will kick start an exploration into the scale and depth of the research in subjective experiences so we can strengthen our understanding of depression, anxiety and psychosis.
We’re excited to work on this project with Alison Faulkner and the team at McPin, who aim to improve mental health through research that is informed and directed by expertise generated through lived experience.
Abigail Burgess, project manager at McPin said: “At McPin, we want mental health to be better understood. Engaging with people’s subjective experiences of mental health issues, and how these are researched, is crucial to facilitate better insight and understanding into the challenges people are facing.
“Working with Alison Faulkner, colleagues at Durham University, and international experts in the field to begin to map this landscape is inspiring, and we hope to achieve change through SUN RISE to influence the future directions of mental health science.”
Alison Faulkner, lead consultant on the project remarked: “This project has created an amazing opportunity to have conversations with people from different perspectives and backgrounds.
“Although there are no easy answers to how we capture the complexity of what constitutes subjective experiences of mental distress through research, it is great to be a part of an endeavour that recognises that complexity and embraces our curiosity.”
Veenu Gupta, Assistant Professor in Lived Experience Research, Institute for Medical Humanities said: “I’m looking forward to seeing how mental health research integrates subjective experiences and intrigued to know more about what approaches to this looks like across disciplines where this field is emerging. It will be interesting but also a subjective experience for the entire team engaging in this work.”
Find out more about the SUNRISE project
Learn more about the McPin Foundation
