NSFT Researcher Publishes Mental Health Diagnosis Perspective Article in World Psychiatry
A mental health researcher at the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) has published an influential new perspective in the prestigious journal World Psychiatry, advancing understanding of how mental health diagnoses are developed and experienced.
Dr Corinna Hackmann, Lead Research Psychologist at NSFT, is lead author of the article, “Towards a shared diagnostic process: whose diagnosis is it anyway?” (2026), co-authored with collaborators from Columbia University, University of the Arts London, and the University of Ottawa.
The paper marks the culmination of a decade of global research led by Dr Hackmann, including contributions to the development of ICD-11, focused on improving experiences of adult mental health diagnosis. Drawing on this extensive programme of work, the article reframes diagnosis as a dynamic and socially influenced process, rather than a purely clinical or technical decision.
The authors argue that mental health diagnosis is shaped by a combination of social, system, and relational factors that are shared between clinicians and service users. This perspective highlights the importance of communication and shared meaning in shaping outcomes for individuals.
Dr Hackmann said: “Diagnosis is highly impactful. It is often treated as a fixed outcome, but in reality it is a lived and social process that shapes how people make sense of their experiences. I think what matters is how meaning is co-constructed - whether it resonates with the person’s lived reality, or sits alongside it without meaning - and whose understanding is given weight. This shapes whether the diagnostic process supports ongoing understanding, or whether it feels distancing and constraining of the person’s sense of self and their relationships.”
The publication emphasises the need for more inclusive, person-centred approaches that recognise the role of lived experience alongside clinical expertise.
To read the full article, visit:
Hackmann C, Zeilig H, Kogan CS, Reed GM. (2026) Towards a shared diagnostic process: whose diagnosis is it anyway? World Psychiatry, 25(2):321-322. doi: 10.1002/wps.70068