A meaning of diagnosis to the patient's identity : part 1: between misrecognition and recognition

Abstract

In the article, we reflect on different meanings and courses of recognition in psychiatry, in other words: on ways in which a diagnosis affects the patient’s identity. Viewpoints of both diagnostician and the diagnosed are examined. In the case of a patient, we take into account an impact of the diagnosis on both personal identity (internalized patient’s identity, the diagnosis as new identity, impoverishment of self-image through medicalized language of one's own experiences' descriptions, but also an integration of fragmented self-knowledge via diagnosis) and social identity (so-called post-diagnostic identities that express different attitudes towards the obtained diagnosis). When discussing post-diagnostic identities, we introduce the notion of insight as a mediator between the former identity and the identity arisen on the ground of diagnosis. The very category of insight as well as stands of objectivity and biologism, are problematised then. There is also a place for deliberations on (traditional and alternative) psychiatric language in the use of not only clinicians but also patients and their families.Autorzy artykułu przedstawiają szerokie spektrum możliwego wpływu diagnozy psychiatrycznej, stanowiącej swoisty przykład metafory miecza obosiecznego używanego przez profesjonalistów. Opisują w nim swoistą typologię "tożsamości postdiagnostycznych" wynikających z akceptacji lub odrzucenia tej diagnozy przez pacjentów. Powyższe tożsamości istotnie warunkują zarówno dalszą terapię, jak i ich funkcjonowanie społeczne