Reimagining Psychiatry: A Practice-Oriented Evaluation of the Network Approach

As the biomedical approach to mental disorders has fallen short of its promised breakthroughs in our knowledge of mental suffering, systemic alternatives – like the network approach – are gaining traction. But given psychiatry's history of promoting reinventions with big promises and unrealistic expectations, how should we evaluate the “epistemic potential” of the network approach?

In this thesis, Nina de Boer formulates a practice-oriented response to this question, focusing not just on how well the network approach reflects the reality of mental suffering but also on how it represents mental suffering, who uses it, and for what purpose. 

By examining the use of the network approach in scientific practice, clinical practice, and daily life, De Boer offers a new perspective on the value of the network approach and contributes to broader debates about the epistemic potential of psychiatric reinventions.