Evaluating Alternative Perspectives on Psychiatric Diagnosis

Abstract

This paper highlights the need for improved practices in the process of psychiatric diagnosis and criteria revision that are more inclusive of the lived experiences of patients. I argue that there are harms inherent in the process of receiving a psychiatric diagnosis and that these harms can lead to a loss of epistemic self-trust in patients. I evaluate two perspectives that emphasize the importance of collaborative approaches and identify the need for lived experiences to be considered at the institutional level, where they are most obviously absent, for meaningful change to occur.

Keywords: psychiatry; diagnosis; epistemic justice; self-trust; lived experience