Mental Disabilities: About the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and The Future of Psychiatry

_**Disahealth:  Dr Gary Greenberg, in Wired Magazine, has published an interesting article on the difficulties of defining mental illness. **[Click Here for link. ][1]_

_Quoting_

"….Its categories line up poorly with the ways people actually suffer, leading to high rates of patients with multiple diagnoses….The DSM-5 battle comes at a time when psychiatry's authority seems more tenuous than ever. In terms of both research dollars and public attention, molecular biology—neuroscience and genetics—has come to dominate inquiries into what makes us tick…..National Institute of Mental Health has launched an effort to transform psychiatry into what its director, Thomas Insel, calls clinical neuroscience.._.."_

_DisaHealth: The table on page two of thge wired article is striking in showing how the evolution of the definition/ descriptionf a condition has changed. However in the eye of the uninitiated the "condition" terminology might be just as flawed as the attempt to link it to other illnesses. What is the difference between a "condition" and an "illness" anyway?_

_ Dr Greenberg has those concluding remarks:_

"…What the battle over DSM-5 should make clear to all of us—professional and layman alike—is that psychiatric diagnosis will probably always be laden with uncertainty, that the labels doctors give us for our suffering will forever be at least as much the product of negotiations around a conference table as investigations at a lab bench…"

DisaHealth: In our layman's eyes, Psychiatry can be seen with two major purposes

1. Help people feel better

1. By themselves as if in a desert island, yes, Crusoe could have a neurosis….
2. In group: Feel better about their differences with the society norms of the day

2. Help Society integrate behavioral outlayers

1. This means that as the "Mores" , laws, Moralities change , so change Psychiatry

**_DisaHealth:_** **_Since it seems unlikely that  molecular biology,neuroscience or genetics will be able to relate brain circuitry to society values anytime soon, the psychiatrist will definitely be here for a while longer._**

_Here is a link to the [APA (American Psychiatry Association)  that has produced a document they call DSM-5 ][2] which is causing some soul searching among the professionals._

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[1]: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/12/ff_dsmv/
[2]: http://www.dsm5.org/Pages/Default.aspx

URL: http://www.disahealth.com/2011/02/22/mental-disabilities-about-the-diagnostic-and-statistical-manual-of-mental-disorders-dsm-5-and-the-future-of-psychiatry/