“It pulls you down, but you need it to access the benefits”: the double-edged sword of mental illness diagnosis

Liana Cristina  Dalla Vecchia Pereira; Morten  Skovdal

doi:10.22235/cp.v16i1.2220

Authors

Liana Cristina Dalla Vecchia Pereira Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4200-2464
Morten Skovdal University of Copenhagen http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2068-1814

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22235/cp.v16i1.2220

Keywords:

mental health, Spain, mental diseases, psychological diagnosis, psychiatric diagnosis, social representation, stigmatization

Abstract

Mental ill-health is rife in all corners of the world. Mental illness diagnosis simultaneously names the problem and labels a person. Taking a social representations perspective, this phenomenological study explores how 12 people living with a mental disorder in Barcelona, Spain, experienced their diagnosis. They experienced having to process what this “diagnosis for life” meant for their sense of self. Immediate encounters of stereotyping and changes in their social relations, reinforced their experience of being “stigmatized for life” and seen as “mentally ill all the time”. Participants did however also note that the diagnosis helped them make sense of the past and the future, including enabling access to specific benefits, which supported their recovery and helped them make ends meet – highlighting the ambivalence of mental illness diagnosis. This study highlights the need to consider the social context and patients’ narrated experiences of diagnosis centre stage.

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