NAVIGATING MENTAL HEALTH THROUGH THE GATEWAY OF LANGUAGE, LITERATURE, AND MEMORY

Abstract

This integrative review explores how language, literature, and memory together shape the experience, representation, and treatment of mental health. Synthesizing work from psychology, literary studies, linguistics, memory research, and digital humanities, the article first outlines conceptual frameworks-narrative psychology, cognitive poetics, expressive arts therapy, and memory studies-which place narrative as key to identity, emotion, and meaning-making. It then analyses classical, modern, and cross-cultural literary depictions of mental distress, showing how archetypal, fragmented, and community-based narratives render suffering, resilience, and recovery visible. The review next considers language as both diagnostic and therapeutic medium, focusing on linguistic markers of illness, psychotherapeutic dialogue, expressive writing, bibliotherapy, and narrative medicine. Building on memory studies, it highlights how autobiographical and collective memories are constructed, disrupted, and therapeutically reworked through storytelling. Finally, the article explores digital-era developments, including online mental health communities, AI-driven narrative analysis, and interactive or gamified storytelling, alongside educational and community applications. Across these domains, the review identifies methodological and ethical challenges, the under-representation of non-Western voices, and the need for translational, cross-cultural research that links narrative theory with clinical and community practice. The article argues that attending to language, literature, and memory is essential for more humane, culturally responsive models of mental health.