An interesting and malleable component of being human refers to what we consider being healthy in a mental and physical state, according to the charts recorded by doctors. For example, it may be normal to consume 2,500 calories a day, but for an olympic athlete such as Michael Phelps, it is normal to consume 12,000.
More specifically, mental disorders are categorized when one appears to outside of the renound "norm". The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) published by the American Psychiatric Association provides a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders. It is used or relied upon by clinicians, researchers, psychiatric drug regulation agencies, health insurance companies,pharmaceutical companies, the legal system, and policy makers. The current version, published on May 18, 2013, is the DSM-5 (fifth edition).
The DSM evolved from systems for collecting census and psychiatric hospital statistics, and from a United States Army manual. Revisions since its first publication in 1952 have incrementally added to the total number of mental disorders, although also removing those no longer considered to be mental disorders.
What is so interesting about the DSM is its relativity to the time in which it was published. Homosexuality evidently has not always been accepted among society as a normal component of being human. Though sexuality is a quality existing in us all, sexual practices differing from the act between a man and a woman were considered a psychiatric disorder. Here is more information concerning the matter. http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_mental_health.html
The article says "In 1973, the weight of empirical data, coupled with changing social norms and the development of a politically active gay community in the United States, led the Board of Directors of theAmerican Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM). "
So what considers one to conform and possess normal standards amongst society, and how can psychiatrists come to the conclusion that one may have a disorder if the patient defies what seems to be the overwhelming usual mental state of mankind at the time they are diagnosed- besides the illness having a detrimental effect on the quality of life? Because mental illness is relative relative to the mental state of others, it is interesting to question the integrity of a diagnosis and whether or not one may need medication to fix his or her issue.
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ReplyDeleteWhile I would agree that the DSM needs a general revision (though the latest edition isn't so bad), the vast majority of mental disorders and their related diagnoses are associated, influenced, or caused by some kind of functional malfunction (usually in chemical pathways or regulatory circuits in the brain). In other words, these disorders exhibit some form of pathology. More and more new studies are even showing genetic links and factors in many of these diseases. My point is that the overwhelming majority of mental disorders are "relative" in the same way that diabetes or cancer is "relative". That is to say that there is just as much of a physical pathology in schizophrenia as there is in cancer. I think you would agree that diabetes is not diagnosed simply on having different eating habits from the norm. Insulin production capabilities in a diabetic are different from the norm, but there is nothing relative or subjective about that. There is a physical malfunction (which is not to say that there is something "wrong") which causes certain symptoms. Recognizing those symptoms in order to hopefully better understand the physical, functional pathology is essentially what diagnosis is. Whether or not medication is required is usually separate to the process of diagnosis. Additionally, not everything that is different from the norm is considered an illness or disorder. Lactose intolerance is actually the norm in humans. Lactose tolerance is caused by a mutation.
ReplyDeleteI believe it was wrong to include homosexuality in the DSM, but I don't think that it is an accurate reflection of the state of the DSM today or how diagnosis of mental illness works in general.
Mind and body is connected. Your physical experience effect your mental status, at the same time your mental experience effect your physical status. Our body is constructed in a way that our body is connected to our body. If there is a problem in our mind, it would definitely effect our body. Depending on your physical status, you will be able to have a clue about your mental status. We cannot really explain what is disorder and what is not by judging from the idea of the society. If a person is acting different do not really mean that he/she has a disorder but they act different from what the society is. To be able to be healthy is to have both mental health and physical health.
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