Disorders of self-categorization: How and why a healthy social self-system is the cornerstone of mental health.

Researchers suggest a new way of understanding mental health that focuses on how we see ourselves in social groups rather than as isolated individuals. They argue this approach could help us better understand conditions like depression, autism, and schizophrenia by recognizing that our sense of self changes depending on our social environment and relationships.

This theoretical review proposes a new self-categorization model of mental health that integrates modern understanding of fluid, socially-structured self-processes with transdiagnostic approaches to psychopathology. The authors argue that moving away from discrete illness categories and individualized self-concepts toward recognizing a healthy social self-system as central to mental wellbeing can provide new insights into mental health conditions. They apply this framework to depression, schizophrenia, and autism, and include verification findings from experts in social identity theory and clinical practice. The model emphasizes the context-sensitive and socially-embedded nature of self-processes in understanding mental health.

The self-categorization model could inform new intervention approaches that focus on strengthening social self-systems rather than treating discrete symptoms. However, empirical validation is needed before clinical implementation.

This is a theoretical review without empirical data. The verification study details are not provided in the abstract. The model's practical application and effectiveness remain untested through controlled studies.

The self had a central role in early theories of psychopathology and has long been of interest to mental health practitioners. However, these early theories typically made what we consider to be two key errors: they conceptualized mental ill-health as constituting discrete categories of illness, and they conceptualized the self as inherently individualized and stable. There is a growing recognition in psychiatry and clinical psychology of the former error, with a change well underway to reconceptualize psychopathology in terms of transdiagnostic continua of symptoms rather than as discrete categories. At the same time, modern understandings of self-processes acknowledge their fluid, socially structured, and context-sensitive nature.

Here, we argue that the integration of these two perspectives-into a self-categorization model of mental health with a healthy social self-system at its core-can provide new insights into both the nature of mental health and ill-health and the relevant focus for intervention. We illustrate this by exploring the implications of our analysis for three conditions (depression, schizophrenia, and autism) and report the findings of a verification study with experts in both social identity theorizing and clinical practice. We conclude by proposing key priorities for future research on self-categorization in mental health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).