The Power of Perception: Lived Experiences with Diagnostic Labeling in Mental Health Recovery without Ongoing Medication
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The Power of Perception: Lived Experiences with Diagnostic Labeling in Mental Health Recovery without Ongoing Medication Use Ray Eads 1
& Mo Yee Lee
1
1
& Chang Liu & Nancy Yates
1
Accepted: 16 November 2020/ # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract
The recovery movement in mental health emphasizes holistic and individualized treatment through many pathways to recovery, though the majority of mental health treatment and existing literature emphasize pharmacotherapy and medication adherence for major mental health conditions. The reimbursement system and research literature are oriented around formal diagnostic categories based in a biomedical perspective of mental health problems, but diagnostic labels also carry stigma and influence how clients perceive themselves and their mental health problems. To investigate the influence of labeling and perception in alternate pathways to recovery, this qualitative study explores the lived experience of diagnostic labeling and self-perception among persons in sustained recovery without ongoing medication use. The study used a grounded theory approach to analyze data from in-depth interviews with 19 participants. Participants had previously received diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and/or major depression, met criteria for functional recovery, and were no longer taking psychotropic medications for 12 months. The participants identified positive perceptions—externalization of the problem and hope for an external “cure”—and negative perceptions—stigma and powerlessness—following a diagnostic label. Notably, the theme of powerlessness related to the initially positive themes as the diagnosis placed the problem outside their control and some participants experienced treatments as unhelpful. Participants succeeded in overcoming powerlessness by finding internalized solutions and redefining their mental health experience as transformative. Rather than pressing clients to accept their diagnosis or “illness,” mental health providers can support multiple pathways to recovery by emphasizing empowerment and personal meaning-making in the recovery process. Keywords Perception . Labeling . Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM) . Stigma . Mental health treatment . Recovery
* Ray Eads [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
Psychiatric Quarterly
In recent years, the mental health treatment system has encountered a widespread movement to shift focus from disability to recovery [1–4]. The principles of recovery [4] reflect a broad view of mental health experiences that extends well beyond the traditional view of mental health problems as permanent, neurologically-based conditions [5]. In contrast to the language of the recovery movement, the psychiatric classifications of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [6] continue to emulate the framework and philosophy of the physical health sciences, and operate in tandem with large scale pharmacotherap
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