Labels and the Self: Identity Labels as Scaffold

This paper considers how labels may be used: "Neurodiverse," "genderfluid," "sex-positive," "ADHD," and "highly-sensitive" are just some of the labels that may be offered by patients in introducing themselves. Such labels can be thought of as shortcuts, a way to define identity and sum up a feeling state, attitude, or behaviour. While they may sometimes be "given" in the sense of a diagnosis, they are also "found" and self-adopted. Using scaffolding as a metaphor for allowing growth or development to take place (or compensate for its absence), the phenomenon of self-labelling is presented as fulfilling different functions, namely: Label as mirrored reflection; Label as creative defence; Label as something with which to play; Label as container for that which cannot yet be known; Label as calling something into being; and Label as collective dream image. The article starts with three brief composite clinical sketches, and goes on to explore some of the ways that labels may be used with reference to the presented clinical material.