The Politics of Mental Health Identity

My dissertation project investigates mental health in America from multiple perspectives and is motivated by the overarching questions: When is mental health a political identity and how is it (dis)similar to other political identities? The first chapter outlines a theory of mental health political identity that prompts the following four empirical chapters. The second chapter is a historical overview of the politicization of mental health in the United States over time. Using a nationally representative survey of Americans, the first empirical chapter descriptively answers the question: For whom is mental illness a political identity? The second empirical chapter uses a different nationally representative survey of Americans to examine how mental health categorization and identification compare to different disability and health identities. Using two survey experiments, the third empirical chapter focuses on the role stigma plays in political identity. Finally, in the fourth empirical chapter, I examine whether lower levels of political trust in American political institutions lead to poorer self- reported mental health.

I argue that mental health is an emerging political identity that will become more salient as societal stigma surrounding mental health continues to decline. I find support for this argument in multiple areas: mental health categorization, identification, and feelings of alienation; an increased desire for state spending on healthcare, welfare, and education. I also find that mental health conditions are still stigmatized among political elites and that a politician revealing a mental health condition results in decreased favorability and vote share. I also show that opinions about a politician’s mental health condition depend on the social acceptability of the condition and on the respondent’s party identification, gender, and mental health status (those who have a mental health condition are more likely to favor and vote for representatives who have a mental health condition). This has broad-reaching implications for descriptive and substantive representation.

The politics of mental health in the U.S. is an under-studied topic in political science with many implications for the distribution and uses of power in politics and society. Overall, this project speaks to broader conceptions of identity, stigma, and intersectionally marginalized groups. My research expands the literature in health politics as well as in policy and identity formation. This line of inquiry extends the field of political behavior research and is inspired by intersectionality theory and interdisciplinary practice.