This article examines the internal and external pressures to ‘normalize’ identity in relation to individuals experiencing mental health conditions (MHCs) at work. The data takes the form of three vignettes extracted from a larger empirical study of 60 interviews. These explore the tensions surrounding identity for individuals experiencing MHCs as well as their interventions to suppress exhibiting the condition. The analysis captures a number of competing meanings surrounding identity in relation to learning to care for the self and managing MHCs. Our contribution is to explore the relationships between learning to care for the self and the performativity of ‘normalizing’ identity in managing MHCs at work. It also provides a potential means of integrating Foucault’s ethics of caring for the self with the literature on identity in ways that can be illuminating for those who manage their MHCs and the demands of work through processes of ‘normalization’. This analysis offers theoretical insights regarding how identity work may be self-defeating in exacerbating MHCs and therefore is of some practical benefit for managers, health professionals and those experiencing MHCs since they often leave individuals with little choice but to intensify their attempts to ‘normalize’ their identities.

本文研究了在工作中遇到心理健康状况（MHC）的个人方面对“身份”“正常化”的内部和外部压力。数据采用三个小插曲的形式，这些小插曲取自对60个访谈的较大的经验研究。这些研究探索了经历MHC的个体周围的身份紧张以及他们抑制表现出这种状况的干预措施。该分析捕获了围绕身份的许多相互竞争的含义，这些含义与学习自我保健和管理MHC的学习有关。我们的贡献是探索在学习中照顾自己和在管理工作中的MHC时“规范化”身份的表现力之间的关系。它还提供了一种潜在的手段，可以将福柯的自我保健伦理与身份文献相结合，从而为那些通过“规范化”过程管理自己的MHC和工作需求的人们提供启发。该分析提供了有关身份认同工作如何在加剧MHC方面自我击败的理论见解，因此，对于管理人员，卫生专业人员和那些经历过MHC的人们而言，这具有一定的实际意义，因为他们常常使个人别无选择，而是加紧了“正常化”的尝试。他们的身份。