Health-related sociology and medical anthropology have extensively addressed the impact of diagnoses on patients’ lives. However, the process through which diagnoses are communicated is still a matter that is dealt with very little in medical practice. The aim of this paper is to analyze professionals’ opinions regarding communication of psychiatric diagnoses: whether, when and how to make one, among other dimensions. Using data from two studies based on interviews with psychiatrists in the city of Buenos Aires, this paper argues that the decision on whether to communicate the diagnosis depends on the significance that the professionals place on the diagnostic categories. The doubts that characterize the act of communication are related to the difficulties in embracing a paradigm for diseases that is free from subjective assessments.
Diagnosis; Psychiatry; Mental health; Communication