Abstract

Background: The cultural phenomenon of Wicked offers an allegory for the othering of individuals experiencing mental distress. Elphaba’s journey in Wicked might be reflective of those experiences of mental health service users and survivors; illustrating how identity is marginalised (and even weaponised) through patriarchal and paternalistic power structures.

Purpose: This poster provides a summary of our 2025 published paper which used the musical and film Wicked to interrogate the social construction of some diagnostic labels, as harmful narratives arising from socio-political processes. Pulling back the curtain on psychiatric discourse, we sought to explicate those themes of abjection and testimonial injustice, and considered their pertinence to contemporary mental health nursing practice

Methods: We suggest that the social construction of ‘wickedness’ in Wicked mirrors dominant psychiatric discourse, processes of psychiatrisation, and their harmful effects. We argue that the concept of ‘Wicked Labels’ (specifically the diagnostic label of ‘Personality Disorder’) are markers of abjection that fix the ‘other’ at a safe distance from the ‘self’.

Conclusions: To resist the systemic nature of othering, we argue for narrative-led, dialogic approaches that support a reclamation and re-authoring of personal stories, thus promoting a shared humanity. Further, we suggest that in aligning with users and survivors of services, mental health nursing can find a renewed purpose through the challenging of harmful orthodoxies, and in itself become a force for systemic change.