Is there something inherently wrong with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders? Yes. It’s bloated.
Some people think that mental disorders don’t exist, and that some people are just misunderstood. Well, I don’t buy that line of thought.
The reality is that some people do have mental problems, and they are different, but not because they’re a little kookie or eccentric. They have serious underlying genetic, or other issues, that keep them the way they are.
The DSM’s job is to help psychiatrists classify the various kinds of mental problems, so practicioners know how to treat different problems.
That sounds great, but has the DSM gone overboard? I’d say just a tad. Have you ever heard of Temper Dysregulation Disorder? Yeah, me either.
And come to think of it, what of all the various anxiety disorders? There is social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, OCD, agoraphobia, and general anxiety disorder. But what happened to good ole Neurotic?
Granted, some people do display different symptoms, or at least lean more toward a certain set of symptoms, than others in the same group. However, I think people are being over diagnosed and being labeled with too many tags.
One argument is that this is done to sell more drugs. This is because if a new disorder is identified, then it’s thought that drug companies can market old drugs for “new” conditions.
And there is also the fact that many of the drugs used to treat the plethora of anxiety disorders and other mental ailments are helped or corrected by the same drugs – like antidepressants for example. What does that say?
And let’s not forget that by creating more conditions “they” are also putting more people into the pool. More sick people could mean more sales.
But, again, something like the DSM is necessary. After-all, a codified diagnostics manual is a must in any self-respecting, scientifically based profession of healing.
Maybe psychiatry is trying too hard to create new diagnoses and not hard enough trying to find solutions for the old ones.
In the next incarnation of the DSM – the DSM-V – they have proposed new diagnoses like Negativistic (passive aggressive) personality disorder, Relational disorder, and you’ll love this one, Sluggish Cognitive Tempo.
If you can make up a diagnosis like passive aggressive disorder then we have a problem. Seriously, some people are just jerks and not necessarily disordered.
I admit that with anxiety disorders many of the sub-disorders are unique and real, even if they are all treated the same. But this whole business of going off and creating new disorders from thin air is somewhat disturbing.
What do you think?
I have to say, I agree. There is a label for everything. It doesn’t really help me get over my anxiety. The solution to the problem is personal in my opinion and not necessarily linked a psychiatric definition.
Well said Andy.
Even though labels of all kinds of disorders really isn’t helpful to overcome anything, it is somewhat comforting because it lets me know that my condition/mindset IS KNOWN OF.
I’m puzzled as to what you’re thinking where you write,”…and you’ll love this one, Sluggish Cognitive Tempo”. But then I’m someone who actually suffered throughout my childhood and on up with a condition remarkably not at all unlike this proposed disorder. Now, in my early fifties I’ve been recently diagnosed as AD/HD, Inattentive sub-type. However I can intelligently make sense of and accept this diagnosis as accurate, only in light of the associated Sluggish Cognitive Tempo construct.
Oh and by the way, Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT) is merely a term. A term is just a name. Just like “Bipolar Affective Disorder” or “Diabetes Insipidus” are names. In the case of SCT, this is the name that has been assigned to a persistent cluster of physical and cognitive symptoms (problems/difficulties/etc.) discovered to appear in a minority of young children already diagnosed with (though not necessarily receiving treatment for) AD/HD . In over-simplistic terms, the SCT child seems to be the ‘polar’ opposite of the typical “hyperactive” AD/HD child… But then, you already know all this, right? 😉