The upcoming revision to the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual will purportedly eliminate Asperger’s Syndrome as a diagnosis, once again calling into question the scientific precision and validity of psychological diagnosis.
Tag: Diagnosis
The Rise of Bipolar Disorder Symptoms and Treatment
Why has Bipolar Disorder, once a fairly rare phenomenon, become so pervasive in our society? This article looks at four influencing factors: (1) improved diagnosis; (2) an enlargement of our conception of the illness; (3) a “vogue” for the label that has led to over-diagnosis; and (4) illicit drug-use and psychiatric medications that have actually increased the incidence of Bipolar Disorder.
The Fallacies of Psychological Diagnosis
The false analogy between diagnosing physical and mental illness provides a rationale for reimbursement from insurance companies to psychotherapists, helps alleviate shame in patients and enables the pharmaceutical companies to make billions of dollars.