What the study found
The article argues that dominant psychiatric explanations can shape the self-narratives of people with psychiatric diagnoses. It also says these explanations can function as master narratives, meaning widely shared storylines that influence how such self-narratives are formed, valued, and perceived.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors conclude that this offers new insight into the relationship between dominant psychiatric explanatory narratives and two narrative values: the coherence of self-narratives and the ability to imagine possibilities for reducing mental suffering. The study suggests this is important for understanding self-understanding in people with psychiatric diagnoses, especially in relation to biomedical explanations of depression.
What the researchers tested
The article uses the literature on master narratives to examine how dominant psychiatric explanations shape self-narratives and how those self-narratives are valued and perceived. To illustrate the argument, the author uses biomedical explanations of depression as a case study.
What worked and what didn't
The article states that when people experience mental ill-health, they may develop a psychiatric self-narrative thread to make sense of their experiences and explain changes in embodied and affective experience to others. It also says that in daily life, psychiatric explanations are often extended into explanatory narratives that support claims about the lives of people with psychiatric diagnoses, and that these narratives can shape both self-narratives and outside judgments about them.
What to keep in mind
The abstract does not describe empirical data collection, sample size, or direct participant testing. The article is presented as a conceptual analysis, and its illustration focuses specifically on biomedical explanations of depression.
Key points
- Dominant psychiatric explanations can influence the self-narratives of people with psychiatric diagnoses.
- The article treats these explanatory narratives as master narratives that shape how self-stories are formed and valued.
- Biomedical explanations of depression are used as a case study.
- The author links these narratives to self-narrative coherence and imagined ways of reducing mental suffering.
- The abstract does not report a participant-based empirical study or sample details.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- Dominant psychiatric explanations shape self-narratives
- Authors:
- Nina S. de Boer
- Institutions:
- Radboud University Nijmegen
- Publication date:
- 2026-03-08
- OpenAlex record:
- View
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