“It pulls you down, but you need it to access the benefits”: the double-edged sword of mental illness diagnosis

Mental ill-health is rife in all corners of the world. illness diagnosis simultaneously names problem and labels a person. Taking social representations perspective, this phenomenological study explores how 12 people living with mental disorder Barcelona, Spain, experienced their diagnosis. They having to process what “diagnosis for life” meant sense self. Immediate encounters stereotyping changes relations, reinforced experience being “stigmatized seen as “mentally ill time”. Participants did however also note that helped them make past future, including enabling access specific benefits, which supported recovery ends meet – highlighting ambivalence This highlights need consider context patients’ narrated experiences centre stage.