ABSTRACT
A diagnosis is not a label that describes a person's identity, but a way of describing the problems that are troubling the person. The narrative language, externalizing problems, supports this understanding. Diagnoses for children and youth are moving targets, socially constructed, and not absolute truths. Diagnoses are medical tools that guide a doctor's understanding of complex problems and can be critical in determining what treatment the patient will receive. Stories in this chapter discuss how we can talk about and use diagnoses, so that they make sense to children and their families. Care needs to be taken to ensure psychiatric diagnoses are not either-or or are perceived as a negative label. Ideally, stigma and tabu about psychiatric diagnoses will lessen with time, and our society will cater for a greater diversity of children, where the present narrow template for normality has been broadened considerably so children don’t grow up feeling wrong.
