Participatory Photography as a Therapeutic Tool for Mental Health Among University Students

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-868-4_11How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Photography; Therapy; Mental health; University students

Abstract

This study focuses on analyzing the uses of participatory photography as a therapeutic tool for rehabilitation and mental health, from the perspective of young university students between 22 and 25 years of age studying medicine. It adopts a phenomenological paradigm that focuses on understanding the perceptions of individuals based on experience and behaviors about a specific phenomenon. Its qualitative approach seeks to understand the experiences, attitudes, behavior and meanings of the human condition. The sample includes students about to graduate from medical school, a group prone to show signs of depression due to academic demands. The data obtained was collected through semi-structured interviews, and a thematic analysis was applied. The findings suggest that photography functions as a therapeutic complement given its capacity to function as an emotional support that facilitates the expression of emotions, stimulates social interaction, introspection, and acts as a catalyst for emotional memory. However, it is crucial to practice its conscious use to avoid dependency through social networks. Participatory photography as a therapy tool has become a vital complement for the rehabilitation of patients with signs of cognitive impairment and an ally for wellbeing.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Paula Augusto-Pando
AU  - María Chávez-Chuquimango
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/10/22
TI  - Participatory Photography as a Therapeutic Tool for Mental Health Among University Students
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Communication and Applied Technologies 2025 (ICOMTA 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 104
EP  - 115
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-868-4_11
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-868-4_11
ID  - Augusto-Pando2025
ER  -