Changes to the DSM - Helpful or Labelling?

In May of this year (2013), a new version of the American mental health diagnostic bible, the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, is due to be published and with this a whole new meaning to the word controversy has arisen. In this 5th edition, there will be new recognised mental health conditions in addition to changes to the diagnostic definitions of other mental health issues, including Major Depressive Disorder.  

Many people argue that with the introduction of certain new mental health conditions, people will be labelled unnecessary. One of the least understood conditions, Generalised Anxiety Disorder, has been in the firing line with the criteria being relaxed to the point that everyday anxieties can class as a 'disorder'. Everyone has the odd worry and some people more so than other, but where does such a subjective feeling become something considered to be pathological? Another of the controversial changes concerns the diagnosis of depression. Under the old guidelines, an individual cannot be diagnosed with major depression if a serious life event, such as bereavement, has occurred that would explain such melancholic feelings. But now if you are seriously affected by the death of a loved one, it may be the case that you are 'depressed'.

With these new guidelines, many professionals and the public alike fear that the amount of people medicated for suffering from a mental health condition will dramatically rise. Even under the current guidelines, doctors are all too quick to prescribe drugs in many cases and waiting lists for popular therapies like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) are already choked to the max. While recognition for people who are suffering can only be a good thing, with an already stretched mental health service in the UK and US, these recommendations may do more harm than good.

 

For more information -

BBC News.

'Grief and anxiety are not mental illnesses' 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20986796