Can psychiatry hinder intersubjectivity? A phenomenological critique of the biomedical conceptualization of anomalous experience.
Frontiers in psychology January 1, 2025 Sabina Wantoch
Anomalous experiences, often labeled as hallucinations or psychosis, are typically framed by psychiatry as pathologies of the mind. This framing can obstruct intersubjective processes for those who undergo such experiences, creating a relational dynamic that excludes individuals from shared interpersonal reality. The psychiatric conceptualization may paradoxically contribute to the very experiences it seeks to eliminate. Phenomenological psychopathology often takes this pathological framing as a given, but the author argues it should instead start from direct experience itself, without pathological assumptions. This points toward a critical phenomenology that examines how conceptual frameworks shape experience.