Telling 10 million Americans they have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), also known as “Winter Blues,” for which there are neither tests to confirm nor a…
Social media being used to market childhood as a “mental disorder” prompts calls for action to curb the practice that can lead to misdiagnosis and…
Medical Daily – June 4, 2014 By Susan Scutti The American Psychiatric Association defines social anxiety disorder as significant anxiety and discomfort about being embarrassed or looked…
The New American – March 17, 2014 By Rebecca Terrell Dateline: Ontario, Canada. Eighteen-year-old Brennan McCartney visited his doctor for a chest cold and, despite…
Towards the end of May, the fifth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), the iconic bible of psychiatry, is coming off the presses after much revision and delay. It’s bound to keep people asking, “Am I normal or do I have a mental illness?”
If you think most diseases are established with objective criteria and rigorous debate, you’d be somewhat wrong. The DSM has a strong track record of taking clusters of symptoms and wrapping labels around them, which lead to the accelerated use of some of the most toxic medications on the planet. How does this happen?