Wednesday 5 December 2007

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia - on radio 4 this week, there was a report on the move amongst a group of psychiatrists to drop the word schizophrenia from the next DSM. They hope this will solve the problem of stigma associated with the word. The BBC interviewer suggested that the way to change stigma was to be more open about the condition, to spread information and enlightenment. The psychiatrist responded by saying only 7% of people in a survey wanted to be known a schizophrenic. 

The interviewer attempted to lead the doctor into a different frame, and to use reason to think through the possible consequences that follow on from action. The psychiatrist responded with marketing-type data, which implies that the patient is a customer and leads to something very like re-branding a product. 


Reported on You and Yours, Radio 4 (21 Nov 2007)