Interesting article in CNN on a subject that is debated in mental health frequently; namely over-diagnosis. The problem is confounded by advances in pharmotechnology and the increasing use of various forms of SSRI's and anti-anxiety medication to treat people who otherwise would not fit the clinical criteria as outlined in the DSM - IV.
Indeed, one of the interesting reports is the controversy around the propose new DSM V which was originally slated for release in May of 2013. Dr. Carrol. chair of psychiatry at Duke University noticed with alarm the growing incidence of bi-polar in children.
"You've got all these young kids running around with this diagnosis, yet many of them have never, ever had a manic episode, which is the hallmark of bipolar disorder," said Carroll, now the scientific director of the Pacific Behavioral Research Foundation.
"Many of these kids," he continued, "have never had anything other than irritability. Yet they're exposed to anti-convulsants, anti-psychotic drugs, which have serious long-term side effects in the form of obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and some movement disorders ... that can leave a person extremely disfigured physically."
Finally, there is this quote that sums up the fact that people frequently recover from mental illness (a loaded term!)
"The DSM-5, in many ways, reflects the politics of psychiatry these days," said Dr. Joel Paris, author of "Prescriptions for the Mind: A Critical View of Contemporary Psychiatry," a psychiatry professor at McGill University and researcher at Mortimer B. Davis-Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, Quebec.
"Everybody has a kind of investment in certain diagnoses. Those who are studying a particular disorder often are saying, 'Well, this is much more common than you think they are. Oh, the prevalence is very high.' But we risk losing legitimacy because of over-diagnosis. ... The fact is that most people get by with bad patches in their lives. They recover."
Looks like interesting books for further research and an important topic to reflect on prior to the launch of the DSM V.
Are we over-diagnosing mental health
Indeed, one of the interesting reports is the controversy around the propose new DSM V which was originally slated for release in May of 2013. Dr. Carrol. chair of psychiatry at Duke University noticed with alarm the growing incidence of bi-polar in children.
"You've got all these young kids running around with this diagnosis, yet many of them have never, ever had a manic episode, which is the hallmark of bipolar disorder," said Carroll, now the scientific director of the Pacific Behavioral Research Foundation.
"Many of these kids," he continued, "have never had anything other than irritability. Yet they're exposed to anti-convulsants, anti-psychotic drugs, which have serious long-term side effects in the form of obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and some movement disorders ... that can leave a person extremely disfigured physically."
Finally, there is this quote that sums up the fact that people frequently recover from mental illness (a loaded term!)
"The DSM-5, in many ways, reflects the politics of psychiatry these days," said Dr. Joel Paris, author of "Prescriptions for the Mind: A Critical View of Contemporary Psychiatry," a psychiatry professor at McGill University and researcher at Mortimer B. Davis-Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, Quebec.
"Everybody has a kind of investment in certain diagnoses. Those who are studying a particular disorder often are saying, 'Well, this is much more common than you think they are. Oh, the prevalence is very high.' But we risk losing legitimacy because of over-diagnosis. ... The fact is that most people get by with bad patches in their lives. They recover."
Looks like interesting books for further research and an important topic to reflect on prior to the launch of the DSM V.
Are we over-diagnosing mental health
RSS Feed
