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Service user perspectives on the impact of a mental illness diagnosis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2011

Diana Rose  and
Graham Thornicroft
Diana Rose*
Affiliation:
Health Service and Population Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London (United Kingdom)
Graham Thornicroft
Affiliation:
Health Service and Population Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London (United Kingdom)
*
Address for correspondence: Dr. D. Rose, Service User Research Enterprise, Health Service and Population Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF (United Kingdom). E-mail: [email protected]
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Summary

Aim – to provide a conceptual and practical analysis of the impacts of mental health diagnoses on consumers and to consider how service users might contribute to the new psychiatric classifications currently being drawn up. Methods – A search was carried out revealing a very sparse literature on this topic. Consultations with service users were conducted and the views of experts sought. Results – Diagnosis is important as it marks the formal status of psychiatric patient being conferred. Consumers react differently, and often, negatively to this. Stigma can follow from a diagnosis. The process of giving a diagnosis can range from one of negotiation and taking the person's strengths into account to the blunt allocation of an unwanted label. Consumers can be reduced to their diagnosis so it becomes their whole personhood and this can have an effect on their sense of self. However, consumers are not passive victims and have their own strategies for dealing with these issues. Conclusion – Consumers can use these experiences to make contributions to the new diagnostic classification systems and to future research.

Keywords

psychiatric diagnosisconsumer viewsnew classification systemsconsumer involvement
Type
Original Articles
Information
Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , June 2010 , pp. 140 - 147
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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Salyers, M.P., Godfrey, J.L., Mueser, K.T. & Labriola, S. (2007). Measuring illness management outcomes: A psychometric study of clinician and consumer rating scales for illness self management and recovery. Community Mental Health Journal 43, 459–480.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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Thornicroft, G. (2006). Shunned: Discrimination against People with Mental Illness. Oxford University Press: Oxford.Google Scholar
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Tylee, A. (1999). Depression in the community: physician and patient perspective. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 60, Suppl. 7, 12–16.Google Scholar
Wasow, M. (1983). Parental perspectives on chronic schizophrenia. Journal of Chronic Diseases 36, 337–343.Google Scholar