A feeling of connection is fundamental for a flourishing life. Humans need to belong; we need frequent, positively valenced interactions with others, and at least one strong, stable and reciprocal relationship characterised by care and concern (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). If deprived of either of these, individuals are more likely to be unhappy, lonely, and stressed, and risk increased physical and mental health problems and suicide (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). Yet in the context of mental health, relationships are dually implicated in both the creation and amelioration of mental health problems (Pilgrim, Rogers & Bentall, 2009, p.235).

However, contemporary capitalist constructions of the self, as individualist and independent, and biomedical models that construct mental illness as the result of biological processes in discreet organisms, fail to take connectedness into account. This internalism (Broome & Bortolotti, 2010), neglects the relational context of distress and wellbeing, and has resulted in a narrow, diagnostically-led focus on the individual in mental health services and polices (Pilgrim et al., 2009).

This research project will bring together scholars from a range of disciplinary perspectives (psychology, philosophy, psychiatry, sociology) to reclaim and foreground relatedness as a central concern for mental health and wellbeing.  Through collaborative workshops, we will explore three apparent paradoxes. We plan to also invite further scholars from a range of disciplines to join us for specific workshops. We will culminate our work with a public event, attended by service-users, clinicians and policy makers, to examine the clinical and personal implications of our findings.