Page "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" Paragraph 50

A consumer is a person who accesses psychiatric services and may have been given a diagnosis from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, while a survivor self-identifies as having survived psychiatric intervention and the mental health system ( which may have involved involuntary commitment and involuntary treatment ).

Some are relieved to find that they have a recognized condition to which they can give a name.

Indeed, many people self-diagnose.

Others, however, feel they have been given a " label " that invites social stigma and discrimination ( i. e. mentalism ), or one that they simply do not feel is accurate.

Diagnoses can become internalized and affect an individual's self-identity, and some psychotherapists find that this can worsen symptoms and inhibit the healing process.

Some in the Psychiatric survivors movement ( more broadly the consumer / survivor / ex-patient movement ) actively campaign against their diagnosis, or its assumed implications, and / or against the DSM system in general.

It has been noted that the DSM often uses definitions and terminology that are inconsistent with a recovery model, and that can erroneously imply excess psychopathology ( e. g. multiple " comorbid " diagnoses ) or chronicity.