Diagnóstico em Saúde Mental: por uma concepção não objetivista das representações da loucura

The present article intends to discuss the question of language used in the classifications in mental health and the implications regarding the positions taken by the different streams of linguistic thought. We will start the discussion of this text with two ways of understanding the world through language; logical positivism and the pragmatic. The statute of the concepts defines the way a concept is understood by the society. From this perspective, it seems appropriate to question which vision of mental illness the society adopts and its possible consequences in the clinical field. Also it seeks to interrogate the circumstantial, conventional and political nature of the diagnostic criteria for mental health. Finally, we try to demonstrate the need for a non-representational view of language as a condition for psychoanalytic clinic.  Key words: diagnosis, language, psychoanalysis.