Jodie Russell joins EPIC!

Welcome to Jodie Russell who will be joining project EPIC, working in Birmingham with Matthew Broome and Lisa Bortolotti. Here Jodie replies to some questions about her research.

Jodie Russell

Hi Jodie! What are your main research interests?

Hello there! I’m interested in the ways in which talking about and researching mental disorder shapes the very experience of mental disorder itself. I would describe myself as part philosopher of mind, philosopher of psychiatry and phenomenologist. 

Early in my PhD I was strongly inspired by Ian Hacking’s work in looping effects; he describes how the act of labelling a person can influence their behaviour, which in turn can change the meaning of the label. This also applies in the case of mental disorder categories, and I used my PhD project to try and get at the bottom of why and how this happens. 

My hypothesis is that looping effects are as a result of people trying to understand one another, where labelling is a way of learning about other people. When we label, I suggest, we (intentionally or unintentionally) encourage another’s behaviour to conform to certain norms and expectations about that label. 

For example, by labelling someone as a friend, that might come with expectations that they should do me certain favours (like keeping a secret). They could refuse, of course, but that might challenge the legitimacy of the label ‘friend’ and whether I actually understand the nature of our relationship! This is how social cognition works, according to the mind-shaping hypothesis; we understand each other’s minds through the norms and expectations we conform to. My contribution, however, is to describe how scientists and patients themselves ‘shape’ the minds of those with mental disorder, for good or for bad.

Why do you think it is important to study epistemic injustice in healthcare?

My research thus far has led me to the conclusion that the kinds of concepts and labels someone has access to can greatly influence how they behave. This can have good and bad effects; a mental disorder concept that implies that one must suffer if one has a mental disorder might lead to a person expecting a poor quality of life, which may itself lead to experiences of suffering and despondency. However, a concept of a particular mental disorder that captures a significant aspect of how it feels might make people feel understood and less alienated in society.

Identifying cases of epistemic injustice, I think, helps us steer away from the negative effects of social labelling and understanding, and steer our cognitive tools towards those concepts which not only help reduce the suffering of people with mental disorder but are also informed by their experiences directly. 

Studying epistemic injustice in healthcare not only helps us identify where particular concepts have been overlooked and where testimony has been excluded in cases of mental health, but the principle of epistemic justice can help rectify some of the historic harms of an overly narrow approach to healthcare where patients traditionally did not have much say in how they were treated and understood.

What are you working on right now?

Now I have completed my PhD, I’m developing its insights further in my current work to consider how mental disorder concepts overlap with other facets of our identity (such as race, gender, and age) where concepts may similarly apply in order to shape someone’s behaviour. My goal is to establish an intersectional, feminist approach to psychiatry that highlights how other aspects of one’s identity impact disorder experience, and vice versa.

I feel that in order to effectively tackle cases of epistemic injustice we should also consider the nuances of people’s identity; two people with psychosis, for example, will never have the exact same experience as they take up different roles and positions in the world. A young person with psychosis will face different kinds of challenges and may require different tools for understanding their experience than someone middle-aged, for instance. My goal is to capture these nuances and to make a case for this more intersectional approach.