^ DSM-IV - Astraea

Sep 29, 2014 01:11 PM

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DSM-IV - Stands for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (of Mental Disorders). The most recent version is the DSM-5, as of spring 2013. Official reference guide of the American Psychological Association, used in clinical and sometimes in legal situations. The "bible" of psychiatry, unfortunately tends to actually get used as a bible. Dissociative Identity Disorder is listed in this manual as diagnostic code 300.14 and has been changed a little to accommodate cultural beliefs in which multiple personality is normal. Some people question the validity of many DSM diagnoses -- for example, it lists bad handwriting and shyness as mental disorders. Many of these diagnoses are assigned primarily for the purpose of obtaining an insurance claim -- some companies will refuse any claims for therapy if the patient does not have an official diagnosis. Thus, a client may be diagnosed with something they don't have merely so insurance will cover it while client and therapist work together to find out what is really wrong. That's one possible scenario out of many.

According to an insider, the criteria by which DSM diagnoses are established are "arbitrary, condescending, profit-driven and riddled with personal biases and political consideration." It might be a good idea to read a couple of books about how the DSM is used to pathologize normal life experiences and what's behind the words in the diagnostic criteria that have been used to label you.

Doctors who worked on the DSM-5 -- the same ones who are paid by drug companies to diagnose mental diseases and prescribe often-toxic drugs for them -- have been required to sign a non-disclosure agreement. That's right, the preparation of this document which affects millions of people's emotional and legal lives was largely done by shadows hiding behind closed doors. Click here to read a New York Times article about the DSM-5 coverup. More concerns about the DSM-5 are voiced here: DSM Reform Committee.

Books: They Say You're Crazy

Making Us Crazy: DSM, The Psychiatric Bible and the Creation of Mental Disorders Much more at our Bad Psychiatry pag