ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the experience and impact of receiving a mental health diagnosis from the lived experience perspective. It explains the tensions between theoretical rhetoric and the lived experience of diagnosis, supported by references to the literature in the field. The chapter aims to provide voice to the person at the heart of a mental health diagnosis. The lived experience in mental health literature is frequently lost or overpowered by stronger or competing voices, and there is a dearth of literature concerning diagnosis from the service user perspective. The men and women who took part in the discussions talked openly about their experiences of receiving a diagnosis, of living with their mental health condition and of the impact it had on their lives and those close to them. They also discussed the stigma which often surrounds mental illness and shared their personal stories of this.
