Mental suffering requires a clinical stance of encounter. A reflective essay

AI Summary

Mental suffering is a disruption of embodied, affective, relational and temporal coherence, not merely a brain defect or symptom.
Suffering is contextually embedded in body, biography, relationships and society, often opaque or coercive, requiring presence to understand rather than quick explanation.
Clinical stance should be encounter-based: listening, resonance and co-bearing, aiming for recognition and restored meaning instead of repair or reduction.

Tijdschr Psychiatr. 2026;68(4):189-194.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Mental suffering lies at the heart of psychiatric practice but is often approached as a disorder, defect, or symptom – thereby eclipsing the lived experience itself.

AIM: To explore how mental suffering can be re-understood as a human experience in context, and what this implies for clinical attitude.

METHOD: Reflective essay based on literature, philosophical analysis, and clinical experience.

RESULTS: Mental suffering does not appear as a brain defect but as a disruption of human coherence -embodied, affective, relational, and temporal. It emerges when the natural continuity between past, present, and future falters, and a person temporarily loses their orientation in the world. Suffering is contextually embedded – in body, biography, relationships, and society – and may manifest as powerful, coercive, or opaque. Not all suffering is transparent or meaningful, yet each instance calls for presence and understanding. The clinical encounter becomes a shared hermeneutic space where experiential and professional knowledge complement and correct each other.

CONCLUSION: Mental suffering calls not for repair but for recognition; not for reduction but for presence and dialogue. A clinical stance grounded in listening, resonance, and co-bearability – understanding rather than explaining – creates room for the restoration of coherence, meaning, and humanity.

PMID:42170710

Document this CPD