“He doesn't really have bipolar …“. The rise of strategic essentialism and diagnostic possessiveness in bipolar disorder
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21257558 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rhiannon Lane (0000-0002-4964-2472, University of Exeter, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 5 |
| Pages | 100299 |
| Publication date | 2024-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | SSM - Mental Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2666-5603 • E-ISSN: 2666-5603 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.ssmmh.2024.100299 |
| OpenAlex | W4392787200 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 31 |
Bipolar disorder has risen in prominence in recent years, arguably in part through its association with various celebrities and positive related attributes such as creativity. The category itself has also widened with increasing numbers seeking out the diagnosis. Drawing upon observations of a psychoeducation programme for bipolar disorder and semi-structured interviews with those diagnosed, this paper considers the role of diagnostic prestige and essentialism in shaping identificatory practices surrounding bipolar disorder. The data suggests that bipolar comes to fulfil a meaningful explanatory role for participants, providing an important sense of group belonging and identity.This tendency to positively relate to bipolar in order to promote social cohesion and positive self-understandings is linked to the practice of ‘strategic essentialism’ (Spivak, 1990; Voronka, 2017), whereby category homogeneity is emphasised. The benefits associated with the diagnosis arguably encourage boundary making and homogenisation in order to prevent category dilution and loss of meaning. As such, while essentialism can be helpful in maintaining group cohesion, it is also associated with diagnostic possessiveness, whereby individuals undermine the diagnostic claims of others creating divisions between those with and without the diagnosis
Bipolar disorder · Epistemology · Essentialism · Bipolar Disorder and Treatment · Family Support in Illness · Mental Health Treatment and Access · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology
Ethnography
Psychiatric and Medical Comorbidities of Bipolar Disorder
Genetic essentialism, neuroessentialism, and stigma
Is It Me or My Brain? Depression and Neuroscientific Facts
Sociology of diagnosis
Seeking Secrecy
Mad studies and neurodiversity
Brainhood, anthropological figure of modernity
Mental Health Support Groups, Stigma, and Self-Esteem
Psychological essentialism and stereotype endorsement
Strategic Essentialism and Ethnification
The Politics of 'people with lived experience' Experiential Authority and the Risks of Strategic Essentialism
A disorder of anger and aggression
Prestige rankings of chronic diseases and disabilities. A survey among professionals in the disability field
The good, the bad, and the severely mentally ill
Not all my fault
Stability and change in disease prestige
Genetic essentialism
Geneticization of Deviant Behavior and Consequences for Stigma
Conceptualizing Stigma
The non-display of authentic distress
Expanding boundaries in psychiatry
Increasing resolution, intensifying ambiguity
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |