Life Narratives and Psychopathology

doi:10.1017/9781009492140.019

Chapter 16 - Life Narratives and Psychopathology

What Life Stories Tell Us about People Experiencing Mental Disorders

from Part III - How Deviating Autobiographical Memories Shape the Life Story

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2025

Mélissa C. Allé ,

Marie-Charlotte Gandolphe ,

Xavier Saloppé and

Fabrice Berna

Edited by

Christin Camia and

Annette Bohn

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Christin Camia: Affiliation:
Zayed University Abu Dhabi
Annette Bohn: Affiliation:
Aarhus University

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Summary

The present chapter describes the twofold interest of the life story investigation in people experiencing mental disorders. First, life narratives provide substantial insights into mental conditions from a first-person perspective. They represent valuable testimonies of patients’ disrupted life trajectories and allow us to understand the subjective experience of mental illness. Second, analyzing the coherence and characteristics of patients’ life stories also enhances our understanding of psychopathology. We present and discuss the alterations of narrative identity possibly caused by mental disorders, either hindering the development of or disrupting the acquired abilities necessary to craft a coherent and meaningful life story. Reversely, low aptitudes in narrating one’s entire life, selecting relevant life experiences, and assembling them into a coherent story might also play a role in both the initiation and maintenance of mental disorders. Building upon these twofold interests, this chapter will open therapeutic perspectives. The importance of working with narrative material when investigating patients’ memories in psychotherapy and how to do so will be discussed.

Keywords

Mental disorders psychopathology autobiographical memory life story psychotherapy

Information

Type: Chapter
Information: Autobiographical Memory and the Life Story
New Perspectives on Narrative Identity
, pp. 349 - 376

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009492140.019 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2025

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