I read R. D. Laing’s book, The Politics of Experience and The Bird of Paradise in the late ‘60s. I was amused by Laing’s contention that psychosis is merely a psychedelic voyage of discovery, a view that was undoubtedly fortified by his imbibing of LSD. As such, he mused that madness is an invention of psychiatry – an insight with which I still enjoy irritating any psychiatrist I am unfortunate enough to encounter – and, insofar as it exists at all, is largely a creation of psychiatrists.
Little did he know that his book was prophetic: the current trend of psychiatry is to label just about any human emotion that isn’t sunnily positive a Mental Disorder. The notable exception is same-sex attraction, a human experience which, in spite of its generally leading to inner conflict, unhappiness, instability and physical illness has been deemed Perfectly Normal by the politically correct wusses in the American Psychiatric Association.
From here:
Once again the armies of psychiatry are on the move, marching like imperial legions into unconquered territories of the human spirit. Psychiatrists do excellent work as individuals but when they join international bureaucracies they can cause trouble and look foolish.
The evidence is the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, known as DSM-5. It’s now in final draft, scheduled for release during the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting next May.
Authors of the various DSM editions appear anxious to demonstrate that just about every trace of emotional discomfort deserves professional attention. Sadness is being reclassified as sickness. The medicalization of everyday life is progressing with astonishing speed.
People not directly involved may view this with a light heart, as fresh intellectual confusion created by pretentious, over-confident experts. It’s more serious for patients. A medical label that’s invented by an ambitious theorist and carelessly applied by an untrained doctor can erode self-confidence. A diagnosis takes on a life of its own.
Habitually, the DSM volumes lead to over-diagnosing and over-prescribing. Grief, for instance, receives special DSM attention. Humanity traditionally regards sorrow as a part of life but in the DSM it indicates depression. In DSM-5, reactions to grief lasting longer than two weeks may be diagnosed as depression, perhaps requiring antidepressants.
