Exposing the Expert Discourse in Psychiatry: A Critical Analysis of an Anti-Stigma/Mental Illness Awareness Campaign

Abstract

Drawing on a situational analysis of a recent anti-stigma campaign in psychiatry (Defeat Denial: Help Defeat Mental Illness) this paper seeks to engage with the reader on the use of an expert discourse that focuses on the brain and its disruption as a way to address stigma associated with mental illness. To begin, we briefly highlight key statistics regarding the impact of mental illness in Canada and introduce the concept of stigma. We then introduce the Defeat Denial media campaign and describe the analytical process employed for this paper - Situational Analysis with a specific focus on discourse. We then expand on the use of the expert discourse in the awareness campaign by making connections with Rose’s concept of biological citizen and, in the final sections, present recent studies on stigma that highlight the paradox and contested construction of the (bio)psychiatric self.