When it comes to mental health, the diagnostic labels matters far beyond their clinical applications.
The proposal to merge these two diagnostic labels should take this into account.
This wasn't what I had in mind; I'd imagined some type of biographical detail, not a recitation of titles and diagnostic labels.
What I am saying is that human experience - because that's what it is, nothing more, nothing less - can never be filed under neat diagnostic labels.
And two weeks ago the British Psychological Society released a statement claiming that there is no scientific validity to diagnostic labels such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Drug companies are sure to seize on new diagnostic labels to get lucrative indications for their drugs, which they will then advertise to consumers who will in turn request the drugs from their doctors.
Ash concluded that there was a severe lack of fit between diagnostic labels and, as he put it, "the complexities of the biodynamics of mental structure" — that is, what actually goes on in people's minds.
It's a very complex subject – not least because there may be crossover between the cultural and the biological; between the BPS's dismissal of diagnostic labels and the NIMH's desire to find a biomarker for every illness.
Among new diagnostic labels to be included are "binge eating disorder", "gambling disorder, and "disruptive mood dysregulation disorder" (child temper tantrums).
Many doctors and therapists approve of efforts to eliminate vague, catch-all diagnostic labels like "eating disorder-not otherwise specified" and "pervasive development disorder-not otherwise specified," which is related to autism.
Family practitioner diagnostic labels applied in consultation provide a signpost for treatment and management.
