No one is safe when the mental health field revises its guidebook

Just Act Normal

Abnormal? It’s the new normal.

For instance: Do you enjoy watching a wild thunder and lightning storm?

Hmmm, that sounds a little odd. You may have TSASS– thunder storm attention surplus syndrome.

Or maybe you hate banging your thumb with a hammer? I’m no psychiatrist, but you could have a serious case of TBAD– thumb bashing anxiety disorder.

I’m exaggerating, of course, but not by much.

The American Psychiatric Association is currently revising the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.” It’s called DSM for short, and it’s known as the “bible” for mental health practitioners all over the world.

But whenever DSM gets a revision, just about any odd behavior might get a new official label as a disorder, syndrome, or phobia. And that brings out the predatory nature in drug company executives. They love nothing more than expanding the market for an existing drug by repositioning it as a treatment for some behavioral quirk that never had a name before.

The new DSM–scheduled for publication in 2013–will be the 5th edition. And three full years before its debut, it’s already stirring controversy.

Recently, three UK mental health experts gave a public briefing of DSM5, and they’re not exactly enthusiastic about the potential changes.

In a joint statement they said, “Technically, with the classification of so many new disorders, we will all have disorders.”

Three false epidemics

Here are some of the new “disorders” that may appear in DSM5:

• Toddler tantrums
• Temper dysregulation disorder
• Mild anxiety depression
• Food addiction
• Binge eating
• Intermittent explosive disorder
• Psychosis risk syndrome

That last one was singled out by Til Wykes of Kings College Institute of Psychiatry. He and his colleagues worry that it could put a negative label of “psychosis” on someone with only a slight risk of actually developing psychosis.

But even though the risk may be slight, an official diagnosis will be all it takes to have many psychiatrists reaching for the prescription pad.

As examples, Wykes points out that previous editions of DSM broadened the definitions of autism, childhood bipolar disorder, and ADHD. The result: DSM “contributed to three false epidemics.”

I wouldn’t say autism is a false epidemic, but the other two–absolutely! And it’s especially true of ADHD, which became a drug company gold mine.

But Wykes and colleagues get the ADHD situation just a little bit wrong. In their statement, they wrote: “During the last decade, how many doctors were harangued by worried parents into giving drugs like Ritalin to children who didn’t really need it?”

Parents did the haranguing? No. I’m sure some did, but believe me, most of the pressure came from doctors and schools. Since the early 90s, federal education grants have provided schools with $400 per year for every student diagnosed with ADHD.

With an incentive like that, ADHD numbers exploded.

And that’s a perfect example of the way DSM revisions can change the mental health field, and also have a huge impact on our society. And there’s only one clear winner: drug companies.

When a new DSM edition is in the works, you can hear those drug company wheels turning a mile away.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson

Sources:
“Mental health experts ask: Will anyone be normal?” Kate Kelland, Reuters Health, 7/27/10, reutershealth.com
“Issues for DSM-V: Should Obesity Be Included as a Brain Disorder?” American Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 164, No 5, May 2007, ajp.psychiatryonline.org
“Is Rage a Mental Disorder?” Remy Melina, Live Science, 7/21/10, livescience.com