You know what I hate? … Right now, I mean … I hate the stupidity of so many psychiatric diagnostic labels. At this moment I’m reading through a patient’s notes, and the wonderful epithet “Adjustment Disorder” pops up. Ick. Yuk. And Bleh also. So how is Adjustment Disorder defined? The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th edition sez:
A. The development of emotional or behavioral symptoms in response to an idetifiable stressor(s) occurring within 3 months of the onset of the stressor(s)
B. These symptoms or behaviors are clinically significant as evidenced by either of the following:
(1) Marked distress that is in excess of what would be expected from exposure to the stressor
(2) significant impairment in social or occupational (academic) functioningC. The stress-related disturbance does not meet the criteria for another specific Axis I disorder and is not merely and exacerbation of a preexisting Axis I or Axis II disorder.
D. The symptoms do not represent Bereavement.
E. Once the stressor (or its consequences) has terminated, the symptoms do not persist for more than an additional 6 months. (Though there is a “chronic” specifier to be used if the symptoms last for 6 months or more
)
Crap, bollocks, and balderdash.
So if something really unpleasant happens to you, and you are so upset by it that you can’t concentrate at work or school, or don’t feel like going out and socialising … you have a psychiatric disorder. Apparently. Srsly, I quote: “…a reaction to a stressor that might be considered normal or expectable can still qualify for a diagnosis of Adjustment Disorder if the reaction is sufficiently severe to cause significant impairment”. So a normal and expectable reaction can indicate the presence of a psychiatric disorder.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh!
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: sometimes I despair for my profession.
Popularity: 4% [?]
The DSM doesn't say what the symptoms are! Or what the "disturbance" is.
Let's be really, really blunt: the symptoms and disturbance are what the shrink says they are. So if he feels bothered, you have a psych disease.
There's that's simple, isn't it?
Idiots.
In the case of this diagnosis, yes. Various others suffer from the same subjectivity – and HMO-driven creation, in my opinion.
It's important however to note that many other psychiatric diagnoses don't suffer from this sort of idiocy; the major disorders are all (mostly) reasonable reflections of reality. Mostly.