Re: New mental disorders

On Feb 22, 12:00 am, Lance <lanceg...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Feb 21, 10:57 pm, Dave Smith <da...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:





On 21 Feb, 19:12, Lance <lanceg...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I think the people putting together DSM V are probably concerned with
human suffering rather than their bank balances. That doesn't mean
that people won't use the broadening of mental illness for financial
gain.

Professional reputation and standing might be more relevant than
financuial gain.  I would think a psychiatrist who coins a new
diagnosis gains prestige and self-esteem, so that might motivate the
'discovery' of new conditions.  Somewhat similarly a social
psychologist might seek to establish a new concept (such as implicit
egoism),  or a zoologist might wish to find a new sub-species.

Dave Smith

True. But the goal of the enterprise is to provide a map of mental
suffering outside of the everyday range that might benefit from
professional help. I wish they were a bit more scientific about how
they do it, though...

Interesting point - are they in any way scientific?

They're producing a classification system, a taxonomy. Presumably, at
the least, they need to establish if particular taxonomic groups exist
and, if they do, if they can be identified unambiguously and, once
that has been done, whether such groups define an area of suffering or
a normal part of human behaviour.

So a proper taxonomy would include mental states - with states of
suffering as a sub-set. Then somebody could be diagnosed as well
(worried well, perhaps, if they've ended up wanting to be diagnosed,
but well).

This would be more positive than the current system where you can only
be judged mentally healthy by being excluded from all possible
pathological conditions.

I suppose we'd need a differential diagnosis model that included, say,
alcohol consumption as a normal part of an integrated life with, then,
guidelines as to when the level or the consequences moved it beyond
normal.

I'm thinking again of 'Three Men in a Boat' and the one finding, on
reading the medical encyclopaedia, that he had every condition bar
housemaid's knee. It seems that this DSM is moving that way.

.

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