The future of phenomenological psychopathology

The ways in which we attempt to make sense of psychiatric illness have been slow to progress. Over the last several decades, clinicians and researchers have inherited one-size-fits-all diagnostic frameworks (DSM, ICD) and limited interview techniques that have been slow to develop and adapt to their patients’ needs, intersectional identities and experiences. These modes of working have arguably been part of the lack of progress in mental health care and have resulted in less than satisfactory treatment success. In the search for alternative approaches to psychiatry and mental health care, there has been a reignited interest in phenomenological psychopathology: an approach that uses the phenomenological method to highlight the lived experience of the person with mental ill health and invites a person-centered approach to diagnosis and treatment. We believe phenomenological psychopathology may remedy many of the problems we currently encounter in psychiatric healthcare. The notion of a person-centered and more democratic approach to mental healthcare has a strong foothold in contemporary public discourse surrounding mental healthcare. While there is a continued risk of the objectification of patients, phenomenological psychopathology emphasizes their subjectivity and experience. The voice of the patient is first and foremost in our phenomenological understanding.