Diagnostic manuals as structural gaslighting Emancipation from individual suffering through the analysis of systemic reasons

Abstract

Diagnostic manual systems such as the DSM and ICD rest upon a narrow choice of level of explanation, where intra-personal mental and biochemical processes are focused upon, while wider historical, social and contextual factors are neglected. This can invalidate the diagnosed person, by presenting their emotions as pathological rather than as understandable responses to past and present events. Pathologizing diagnostic language functions as a kind of structural gaslighting. An analysis of present social contextual factors followed by a case study (using myself as a case study) show how pushing diagnostic language away from the intrapsychic domain toward social structures can help suffering individuals toward emancipation from invalidating norms. By attending to the bigger picture, we can relocalize problems from individualized approaches to appropriate levels of explanation.