The tyranny of expert language

Article

Harper, D. 2002. The tyranny of expert language. Open Mind. 113, pp. 8-9.
AuthorsHarper, D.
Abstract

When we think of the kinds of concepts that are currently available to professionals and the public to describe emotional difficulties and distress, we come across terms like 'anxious', 'depressed', 'schizophrenic', 'chronic', (treatment) 'resistant' and so on. It can become easy to treat these terms as if they were unproblematic and to think that this naming is like calling the thing you sit on a chair. However, ways of looking at emotional distress are continually in flux, and some descriptions of distress, like reductionist biological psychiatric views, currently get much more prominence than the alternatives.

KeywordsDSM; psychiatric terminology; diagnosis; emotional difficulties; mental health problems; stigma
JournalOpen Mind
Journal citation113, pp. 8-9
Year2002
Accepted author manuscript
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CC BY-ND
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Print2002
Publication process dates
Deposited22 Feb 2011
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Harper, D.J. (2002) ‘The tyranny of expert language.’ Open Mind, 113, pp. 8-9.

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