Narratives of Schizophrenia: Constructing a Positive Identity

Abstract

This paper explores how people with schizophrenia construct positive identities in the face of the negative and stigmatizing discourse of mental illness. The author regards identity not as a fixed characteristic of individuals but rather as something actively constructed and reconstructed in communicative practice. By analyzing the narratives of people diagnosed with schizophrenia, the author shows that people with schizophrenia do not simply take up the negative meanings of schizophrenia provided by cultural discourses. Instead, they use various strategies in social interaction to construct positive identities and in doing so reinforce or reshape cultural knowledge about schizophrenia.