Diagnosis as Part of a Large Social Emotional System

This article examines the diagnosis of mental illness as part of a process that can be more clearly understood if envisioned as part of a larger system that goes on in most social encounters. These encounters can go in three directions: Labeling, Enabling, and Normalization. Labeling is equivalent to stigmatization, the awarding of a shameful status. Enabling awards a prideful status: “There is nothing wrong with you.” Normalization takes a middle ground: you have a problem, but it's not shameful. These ideas are discussed as depicted in the film Lars and the Real Girl (2007). The film teaches a powerful lesson: how a community might manage mental illness without the social side-effects.