Diagnosis as a Resource in the Social Representation of Mental Illness

Abstract

The theory of social representations has been applied in empirical research that

examines shared understandings of mental illness in different communities. Another line

of inquiry, drawing on a number of theoretical perspectives, has dealt with the functions

of diagnosis in everyday sense-making regarding mental problems. This paper suggest

how the theoretical model of social representation can be extended in order to account

for representation as interactive sense-making in which diagnostic concepts serve as a

mediating resource. An empirical study of discourse in self-help groups with people

sharing experiences of mental health problems is used to explore the role of diagnosis in

establishing shared understandings and identity. It is argued that when diagnoses are

anchored in lay knowledge, they acquire new meaning potentials and serve new

functions for representation that have ontological, epistemological, and moral

dimensions.