There’s something wrong with JJ & stigma & ‘madness’: Understanding the development of mental health themes in young adult literature and the impact upon the novelist’s creative process

Abstract

This practice-based PhD consists of two elements: Part 1: A YA novel titled There’s Something Wrong with JJ, depicting the development of depersonalisation disorder (DPD) in a seventeen-year-old boy. The novel is intended to be a fictional yet realistic depiction of DPD drawn from an understanding of the condition through educational literature. & Part 2: Stigma & ‘Madness’: Understanding the Development of Mental Health Themes in Young Adult Literature and the Impact Upon the Novelist’s Creative Process – a research piece seeking to analyse and evaluate various portrayals of mental illness in Young Adult fiction, with a focus on depression, anxiety, dissociative states, and detachment. The thesis will look at the development of YA fiction with regards to such illnesses, considering how awareness of such illnesses has risen, more disorders have been labelled and stigmas have been broken. YA fiction often deals with these illnesses and their development through events such as, but not limited to, death, divorce, drug use, abuse during adolescence and other traumatic experiences. Therefore, YA is the primary genre within this research, though brief exploration into cross-genre works will also benefit the analysis. An investigation of the term ‘sick-lit’ and the genre will be given to understand its role in literature, the consideration of mental health subject matter by the writer, and the representation presented to a YA audience including those who are suffering with mental health conditions. The purposes of fiction will also be investigated, with consideration of profitability vs social responsibility. Self-reflection on the writing and researching process will be included at the latter stages of the research piece.