Dr Bridget Bradley

Dr Bridget Bradley

Lecturer in Social Anthropology

Researcher profile

Phone
+44 (0)1334 46 2055
Email
bb203@st-andrews.ac.uk
Office
Room 8
Location
71 North Street
Office hours
Wednesday 10am-noon

 

Research areas

Bridget Bradley was awarded her PhD from the University of Edinburgh in 2019. Her doctoral research examined a group of complex mental disorders known as body-focused repetitive behaviours (BFRBs), in particular compulsive hair pulling (trichotillomania) and skin picking (dermatillomania).

Her research followed the ways that people with BFRBs move through diagnosis, towards sociality, and how relatedness influences patient activism and community-building. She has conducted multi-sited ethnographic research in the United Kingdom and United States, and uses methods of auto-ethnography and virtual ethnography.

Bridget considers herself an applied anthropologist, and is involved in ongoing advocacy work with the BFRB community, collaborating with her interlocutors to raise awareness and improve support options in the UK.

Bridget's new research continues her interest in mental health and community activism, and focuses on experiences of eco-anxiety with climate activists and their families in Britain.

General research interests include: health and illness, kinship, the body, gender and intersectionality, hair and beauty, applied anthropology, auto-ethnography, activism and social change, mental health and climate change.

PhD supervision

  • Alexis Evans
  • Louisa Wladarsch

Selected publications

 

See more publications