New study about the concept "hemmasittare"

In the last ten years, a new concept has come into focus in discussions about mental health and ill-health among young people: "hemmasittare" (translates to "someone sitting at home"). This term is used for young people who, due to psychological problems or for other reasons, stay home from school for longer periods and avoid social interaction.

Linnea Tillema, researcher in the history of science and ideas, and affiliated with CMH, will carry out a historical study aimed at a critical examination and problematization of this emerging category. The project investigates the origin and development of the term, as well as how "sitting at home" has come to have such a prominent place in today's discourses about mental illness in young people. The study uses theories from the medical humanities and history of medicine to analyze how this new problem category has been constructed and established. Particular attention is paid to how it has been defined and distinguished from "truancy" - another term often associated with absence from school.

The project is conducted within the framework of the interdisciplinary research program Young People's Mental Health in Focus (UPIC), at Uppsala University, which aims to advance the state of knowledge regarding the many expressions and manifestations of the "new mental illness", by combining scientific perspectives and methods from several different disciplines and research traditions, where medical humanities form an important part.