Affordances and 3E Psychopathology

Abstract

The concept of affordances is an extremely useful tool in the study of mental disorders. However, there is also reason to be cautious with how we use this tool. This essay will first orient the reader to the theoretical/conceptual stance of 3E Psychopathology, within which human functioning is understood as embodied, embedded, and enactive. It will then be demonstrated how such an understanding of mental disorder requires the incorporation of affordance-based analyses within our descriptions and explanations of mental disorder. Some recent affordance-based analyses of mental disorders will then be overviewed and a brief comment made as to the potential utility of affordance-based thinking in the processes of psychotherapy. Finally, it will be argued that, based on the sense of understanding that affordance-based models can evoke, caution is required in applying this tool. The multi-scale complexity of mental disorders demands a plurality of approaches if we are to continue to develop our understandings and our ways of helping those stuck in patterns of distress.