Hope for sufferers of depression

The ultimate goal of the Language of Depression project conducted by linguists at Deakin University and psychiatrists at the Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne is to provide training programs for Acute Hospital staff to identify early their patients who suffer from depression and refer them to consultation- psychiatrists or psychologists for help. To date, only case studies from this project of 40 subjects have been reported. This paper presents the preliminary findings of the study of the language of depressed Acute Hospital patients. The generic structure of the data set will be described; the role and findings of the application of the WordSmith 3 concordance will be outlined; and in particular the semantic matches of features of depression will be presented. These are drawn especially from the application of APPRAISAL analysis. If Acute Hospital patients are listened to with the insights from these findings, with referral, they should receive help to curtail their suffering and be given hope of improvement and even the prospect of recovery from their depression.

The recovery journey : employment support for people with depression and other mental illnesses

This paper presents the qualitative findings of a larger mixed method study aimed to articulate factors that clients and staff of the Disability Employment Network (DEN) identify in relation to re-engagement into the workforce. The DEN is a supported job training and employment program funded by the Australian Federal Government, established to assist clients with health disabilities, including mental health diagnoses, to seek and retain employment. Two DEN sites participated in the study (one regional and one metropolitan). Semi structured interviews and focus groups were undertaken with seven employment counsellors and 16 clients until data saturation occurred. Analysis of the narrative data identified two overarching emergent concepts articulated by clients and employment counsellors: employment enablers and employment barriers. The notion of recovery and re-engagement in the workforce in the context of mental illness is complex. The qualitative results of this study highlight the essential nature of supporting clients’ mental health and vocational needs concurrently through such means as service collaboration, vocational peer support and, importantly, provision of employment support congruent with phase of recovery.