Identities, Otherness, and Mental Health : from Discrimination to Social Resilience

Background: Identity in mental health is a multidimensional construct shaped by philosophical, psychological, and sociocultural frameworks, in which processes of othering, social identity, and structural inequality play a central role. Method: This conceptual review integrates phenomenological, sociological, and psychiatric perspectives to examine how identity is constituted through consciousness, embodiment, intersubjectivity, and social categorization, and how these processes interact with stigma, oppression, and resilience. Results: Identity emerges as a dynamic synthesis of sameness and continuity, embodied experience, and relational constitution through alterity. Social identity theory highlights the role of group membership in shaping selfconcept, belonging, and mental health, while also generating ingroup/outgroup distinctions that sustain processes of othering. Such mechanisms underpin discrimination, minority stress, and structural oppression, which are strongly associated with increased

vulnerability to depression, anxiety, and psychosis. Within this framework, mental illness itself may act as a source of secondary othering, reinforcing stigma and identity disruption. Healthcare systems may further amplify these dynamics through alteritydriven barriers to care, cultural misunderstandings, and structural inequities. Conversely, social resilience plays as a protective and complementary process that reinforces individual identity by fostering belonging, cohesion, and shared identity reconstruction. Conclusions: Identity is a socially embedded, relational, and dynamic construct continuously shaped by otherness, structural inequality, and resilience processes. Strengthening social resilience and inclusive systems is essential to contrast stigma, inequities, and promote both personal and collective identity integration. [Publisher's Text]

Background: L' identità rappresenta un costrutto multidimensionale, definito da aspetti filosofici, psicologici e socioculturali, all' interno dei quali i processi di Othering, l' identità sociale e le disuguaglianze strutturali della società svolgono un ruolo centrale. Metodi: Questa analisi concettuale integra prospettive fenomenologiche, sociologiche e psichiatriche al fine di esaminare come l' identità si costituisca attraverso la coscienza, l' embodiment, l' intersoggettività e la categorizzazione sociale, nonché come tali processi interagiscano con fenomeni sociali come lo stigma, l' oppressione e la resilienza. Risultati: L' identità emerge come una sintesi dinamica di senso di sé, continuità, esperienza incarnata e costituzione relazionale attraverso l' alterità. Il costrutto di identità sociale evidenzia il ruolo dell' appartenenza ai gruppi sociali nel plasmare il concetto di sé, il senso di appartenenza e la salute mentale, generando al contempo distinzioni tra ingroup e outgroup che alimentano

lo stigma, ridurre le disuguaglianze e promuovere l' integrazione dell' identità sia a livello individuale che collettivo. [Publisher's text]