Asks an editorial from The Psychiatric Times:
…with each revision [of the DSM], the number of diagnosable conditions increases. With each increase, psychiatry is criticized for ‘creating’ diagnoses to: 1) increase revenue to clinicians; 2) partner with big pharma to expand the mental health market; or 3) simply raise money for the DSM publishers. Consequently, in the absence of research demonstrating that new definitions meaningfully advance the utility of our diagnoses, our credibility with the public and our medical colleagues is challenged with each DSM revision. Only when we first accumulate research supporting changes in our diagnostic systems will we meet these challenges effectively. We are not at this point now…
And then an astute commentator nails it on the the head:
Meh, the American public is literally eating it up. Sadly the question of an uninformed/disengaged population is one of the key driving factors in most of our health woes as a country with no magic pill in sight for that social ill. Maybe we should start a contest to come up with a diagnosis for that.
