Psychiatric diagnoses as semiotic mediators: The case of ADHD

Abstract

In cultural psychology, semiotic mediation refers to persons' use of signs to regulate thoughts, acts, and emotions. Drawing on an ongoing fieldwork in a support group for adults diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), this paper highlights three specific functions that psychiatric diagnoses can have as semiotic mediators in the lives of the diagnosed: (1) an explanatory function in relation to experienced problems (even if a diagnosis is a description of symptoms, it is often used to explain these very symptoms), (2) a self-affirming function (in the sense that a diagnosis provides a framework according to which numerous phenomena appear as “symptoms”), and (3) a disclaiming function in relation to responsibility (with the possibility of medicalizing aspects of moral life). The legitimacy of each can be discussed, which in itself might add to the distress experienced by adults categorized by a contested diagnosis such as ADHD.

Keywords::

• ADHD
• qualitative inquiry
• cultural psychology
• semiotic mediation
• entification

Acknowledgments

This article is part of a study (Diagnostic Culture) funded by the Danish Council for Independent Research. (grant no. 12-125597).

Notes

^1. The explanatory role also figures in some of the official ADHD documents and plans in Denmark, for example, in the ADHD strategy formulated by the municipality of Aarhus (the second largest city in Denmark). This text repeats several times that the ADHD diagnosis “provides the individual with an explanation of the troubles he or she encounters.” (Aarhus Kommune, 2013, p. 4; my translation).