| dc.description.abstract | Background: Many students are suffering from depression /dejection. At the University
of Agder students are offered a coping with depression course (named KiD in
Norwegian), which is a self help course based on cognitive-behavioral theory. Quantative
studies of similar courses have shown that the course has positive effect.
Aim and research question: The dissertation uses a hermenutical-fenomenological
approach, and its aim has been to explore experiences from students that have been
participants on the course. The research question was: What personal experiences and
acquired insight can students that have been participants in KiD narrate, and in what
ways can the course contribute to a recovery process?
Method: The methods for collecting data have been a qualitative interview with six
participants. In Addition, I have made participant observation.
Result: KiD has increased the awareness of the participants and has motivated several of
them to actively participate in their own recovery process. The methods and techniques
are regarded as necessary tools. Social aspects like meeting others in the same situation,
and the course leaders’ way of being and behaving were also significant. Furthermore,
the results point to the complexity of a recovery process, and reveal that also other
external factors are of considerable significance.
Conclusion: The results confirm findings from quantative studies and indicate that the
course has positive effect on persons suffering from depression / dejection. At the same
time, the study shows that by listening to the participants’ experience one gains insight
into the comprehensiveness and diversity concerning the elements in the course that can
contribute to a recovery process. The study points to the importance of an inner
perspective (the phenomenological perspective), when treatments and health care are
being evaluated.
Key words: Coping with depression Course, cognitive therapy, hermenuticalfenomeological,
Topor, Antonovsky, “sense of Coherence”, discourse on the effectful | en_US |
