A framework for critical discourse studies on mental health

Abstract

In this article I present a framework for critical discourse studies on mental health. By relying on principles belonging to Critical Discourse Studies (Flowerdew & Richardson, 2018; van Leeuwen, 2008; 2007), and the Sociology of Health (Caponi, 2014; Martinez-Hernaez, 2014; Mitjavila, 2015; Rose & Abi-Rached, 2014), at first I introduce a brief contextualization of Critical Discourse Studies as a field of research and establish connections between this field and mental health studies. In the sequence, I present a framework divided in 8 steps focused on the investigation of social practices involving mental health. These steps are then applied to the analysis of one appellate decision produced by the Superior Court of Justice in Brazil involving the diagnosis of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder. The analysis reveals ADHD has a neuropolitical function and that authority related to the diagnosis is vested in medical expertise only, despite the lack of biological markers for it.