Annie Irvine, Lecturer in Social Policy and Public Management, School for Business and Society
Annie has worked in applied social policy research for over 20 years, with a main focus on the complex interplay of work, mental health and the welfare system in the UK.
Her research uses qualitative methods including in-depth and biographical interviews and conversation analysis.
email: annie.irvine@york.ac.uk
Our 60-second interview with Annie:
Could you please tell us what work you do in the field of mental health?
I carry out qualitative research which tries to better understand people’s lived experience of distress and the complex ways in which this interacts with their working lives, their capacity for work, and their encounters with the welfare system. My research is predominantly applied – engaging with contemporary UK policy around employment support and welfare conditionality – but is informed by sociological debates about how we conceptualise ‘mental health’ and ‘mental illness’ and how different framings have different implications for policy and practice.
What do you find most rewarding and inspiring in this work?
I am constantly humbled by the stories that people offer to share with me in our research projects, and by the amazing work being done at the frontline by practitioners who take part in our studies. It puts my everyday problems very much in perspective and we could not do our work without participants’ generosity. I am also a qualitative analysis geek and like nothing more than uninterrupted days at my desk, poring over interview transcripts and writing rambling memos (that I hope – at some point – will become journal articles!)
What is the most challenging or complicated aspect of this work?
Mental health is a hugely complex and contested area. Whilst this makes it fascinating, it is also tricky territory when trying to bring different disciplinary perspectives and lived experiences into dialogue. I am constantly aware of the need for care in language and sensitivity when trying to explore alternative ways of approaching policy problems.
What impact do you hope your work is having - or can potentially have?
All the research I am currently doing shares an aim to ‘shift the narrative’ on how policymakers view the problem of mental health and employment. Much valuable awareness raising in recent years has brought mental health to the foreground of debate, but there is a risk that the problem becomes seen as an individualised issue with responsibility placed at the door of mental health services. We must not lose sight of the social and structural factors that underpin people’s distress, which could be modified through more effective social policies. Good mental health requires upstream prevention, not just reactive intervention.
Could you share with us one piece of advice that you follow for your own mental health?
I’m an introvert by nature and I know that I need regular time alone to keep my mood and energy positive. So one of my favourite things is to get up really early and sit in the front window of my house with a hot cup of coffee, and watch the sun come up – before any of my kids are awake!