Patient experience and psychiatric discourse

Abstract

SummaryLanguage, concepts and frameworks employed by psychiatrists contrast starkly to those held by patients. Despite the fact that the battle to understand patient experience was won long ago, current biomedical approaches and the DSM culture prevent such understanding. Positioning patient narratives in the foreground will help translate experience, provide legitimate frameworks, create common language and interface for communication, offer powerful insights, influence clinical practice and have an impact on psychiatric theory.