10 November 2016

Beginning with DSM-III, these systems dramatically increased the number of diagnostic categories and reduced the number of exclusion criteria so that many people who would have received only a single diagnosis in previous systems now receive multiple diagnoses. The intention was to retain potentially important differentiating information that could be useful in refining understanding of etiology, course, and likely treatment response (First, Spitzer, & Williams, 1990).

Yesterday I wrote about the relation between a culture and mental health criteria. Today I came across a completely opposite point of view. It turns out that there is a wish to define mental disorders through the state of neutron circuits and their commutations. And it’s a kind of application to make psychiatry a natural science. Like a blood formula corresponding an internal disease there’s a temptation to make a precise formula of the depression or the panic disorder.