The Role of Embodied Experience in Bipolar Disorder Patients’ Identity Change

Abstract

This study examines how individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder negotiate identity through discourse and embodied experience. Using a multiple‐case qualitative design, it analyses spontaneous speech, interviews, and written texts from five participants through conversation analysis, discourse analysis, and Valsiner's (2007) three‐level model of human experiencing. Findings identify three identity trajectories: hopeful acceptance of the patient identity after diagnostic confirmation; rejection of the illness label due to disillusionment or a desire for normalcy; and strategic, pragmatic acceptance of the patient identity to navigate everyday demands. The study extends sociolinguistic research on illness discourse by foregrounding the body as an active force in identity work and advocating frameworks that integrate language, embodiment, and agency. Drawing on the dual lenses of the Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders , Third Edition (Chinese Medical Association, 2001) and neurodiversity theory, it balances biomedical diagnostic standards with critical neurodiversity perspectives in interpreting participants’ identity negotiation.