Diagnostic Cultures

Drawing on new empirical case studies of psychological diagnoses, including depression and ADHD, and employing both cultural-psychological and sociological analyses, Diagnostic Cultures charts the development of contemporary diagnostic cultures and asks whether, in transforming existential, moral and political concerns into individual psychiat

Some studies estimate that each year, around a quarter of the population of Western countries will suffer from at least one mental disorder. Should this be interpreted as evidence for the progress of psychiatry, a discipline that is now able to identify and treat mental illnesses that have always existed, or might it be the case that modern life somehow creates new conditions, or social pathologies? This book argues that in fact something more fundamental has been taking place in recent years: the development of diagnostic cultures. Taking account of the phenomenon of patients themselves 'pushing for' pathologization - and acknowledging therefore that this is not simply a case of psychiatry pursuing an agenda of 'medicalisation from above' - this volume examines the emerging trend towards interpreting our sufferings in terms of psychiatric conceptions and diagnostic categories. Drawing on new empirical case studies of psychological diagnoses, including depression and ADHD, and employing both cultural-psychological and sociological analyses, it charts the development of contemporary diagnostic cultures and asks whether, in transforming existential, moral and political concerns into individual psychiatric disorders, we risk losing sight of the larger historical and social forces that affect our lives. A ground-breaking examination of the shift towards the pathologization of suffering and the dangers that this presents to human self-understanding, Diagnostic Cultures will be of interest to scholars of social theory and philosophy, the sociology of culture, psychology and the sociology health and medicine.

"A captivating analysis of the ways that use of medical diagnoses to categorize human behavior has altered our inner experience and our everyday social lives." - Donald R. Marks and Larissa Redziniak in PsycCRITIQUES (2016)

Autorentext

Svend Brinkmann is Professor of Psychology and Qualitative Methods and Co-director of the Center for Qualitative Studies at Aalborg University, Denmark. He is the author of Qualitative Inquiry in Everyday Life: Working with Everyday Life Materials, Qualitative Interviewing and Psychology as a Moral Science: Perspectives on Normativity, and the co-author of InterViews (Third Edition): Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing.

Inhalt

List of Figures

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1. Introducing the Concept of Diagnostic Cultures

2. Psychiatric Diagnoses as Epistemic Objects

3. Languages of Suffering

4. Psychiatric Diagnoses as Semiotic Mediators

5. "Do More, Feel Better, Live Longer": Being a Psychiatric Subject

6. Interpreting the Epidemics

7. Towards a Comprehensive Understanding of Mental Disorder

8. General Conclusions

Bibliography

Index