Article Title
The Subjective Dimension of a Bipolar Family Education/Support Group: A Sociology of Emotions Approach
Abstract
This article reports on the predominant emotions experienced by members of an education/support group for the relatives and partners of individuals with bipolar manic-depression. Identified are the specific types of emotions experienced as well as the situational, definitional, and behavioral frameworks in which particular emotions or combinations of emotions were generated, experienced, interpreted, expressed, and managed. Special attention is focused on emotional uncertainty, mixed and fluctuating emotions, the erosion of positive by negative emotions, and emotional stalemates. In addition, the personal and social consequences of members' adopting particular emotion management roles are examined. Finally, the article outlines the education/ support group contexts and processes through which members were able to normalize, alter, or reduce a number of particularly distressful emotions and create or reinforce specific positive emotions.
Recommended Citation
Cuthbertson-Johnson, Beverley A. and Gagan, Richard J.
(1993)
"The Subjective Dimension of a Bipolar Family Education/Support Group: A Sociology of Emotions Approach,"
Clinical Sociology Review: Vol. 11:
Iss.
1, Article 7.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/csr/vol11/iss1/7
