Dr Victoria Vass BSc Hons, MSc, PhD, FHEA, CPsychol, AMBPsS

I'm interested in experiences of psychosis and how individuals make meaning of these experiences. In particular I'm interested in perceptions and understandings of psychotic experiences, and associated diagnoses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. My work predominantly focuses on socio-environmental determinants, and barriers to recovery - particularly stigma.

My main area of research expertise is mental health stigma. I am particularly interested in self-stigma, or internalised stigma, and how this impacts on recovery prospects, social relationships, and engagement with life opportunities. Stigma often serves as a barrier for people experiencing mental health issues, yet can propel individuals into activism, empowerment, and recovery. I have conducted qualitative interviews exploring service-users' perceptions and internalisations of stigma both in their own social networks, and in mental health services. More recently, I have been focusing on stigma within an intersectionality framework, and examining the issues of stereotype threat and microagressions in realtion to mutiple axes of identity (mental health, sexual orientation and ethnicity).

I'm interested in concepts and perceptions of recovery, and the tension between service users' and clinicians' understandings of what recovery means for mental health. More recently I have focused on factors which inhibit or promote recovery in severe mental illness, particularly in terms of the utility of diagnoses, perceptions of care provided by mental health services, perceived stigma and self-stigmatisation.