PRAGMATIC ACTS USED AS DIAGNOSTIC STRATEGIES IN MEDICAL ENCOUNTERS WITH MENTAL HEALTH PATIENTS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The therapeutic outcomes for mental health patients in Nigeria are significantly improved when healthcare providers employ clear, empathetic, and culturally sensitive language in their diagnostic and treatment approaches. Existing linguistic studies on mental health discourse have examined mental illness detection through language and mental illness manifestation as portrayed on social media. Little attention has however been paid to the pragmatic language acts deployed by mental health practitioners during diagnosis and treatment processes of mental health patients (MHPs) in Nigeria. This study was therefore designed to investigate pragmatic acts used as diagnostic strategies in medical encounters with MHPs in Nigeria. Jacob Mey’s Pragmatic Act Theory served as the framework. A qualitative research design was adopted. Medical encounters with mental health conditions at the Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, Nigeria were purposively selected. Seven medical encounters were audio-taped. Data were subjected to pragmatic analysis. Findings show that mental health practitioners deploy six preponderant pragmatic acts as strategies that aid diagnosis and treatment processes of MHPs in Nigeria. The pragmatic acts are – counselling, interjectory, suggesting, inquiring, re-assessing and promising. Respectively, these acts are used by doctors/psychiatrists to perform the pragmatic function of encouraging, prompting responses, tracking mental health history, showing medical concern, confirming and assuring. These acts/functions are realised through pragmatic cues entailed by REL, SSK, REF, INF, prosody and indirect speech act. The identified acts/functions therefore emphasise Nigerian mental health workers’ readiness to positively respond to patients’ medical needs.   Keywords: Mental health, Medical encounters, Pragmatic acts