Just because the doctor says you have it doesn't mean you actually do. The DSM-IV is not written in stone; in fact, it's just another human-created tool. The contents included in the DSM-IV are the result of a vote--yes, a vote--at the APA's annual conference. Does this mean that if your particular pathology gets voted off the island, you don't actually have it anymore?
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Glimpsing a total lack of madness
Just because the doctor says you have it doesn't mean you actually do. The DSM-IV is not written in stone; in fact, it's just another human-created tool. The contents included in the DSM-IV are the result of a vote--yes, a vote--at the APA's annual conference. Does this mean that if your particular pathology gets voted off the island, you don't actually have it anymore?
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2 comments:
I think it is very intelligent and healthy to question human constructs. However, I don't think it's 'normal'. The more I look around, the more I see that some of the healthiest things are just not normal. That can leave one with a choice that is, for some, agonizing. Now you are speaking of a different brand of loneliness. A horse of a different color, but still a horse. The difference is... you might get to shop around for the color that best suites your soul.
My old shrink, Dr. Mean Old Lady, used to grab that DSM-IV and shake it and tell me that she could go out on the street and grab any person and say that according to the Grand Poobahs at the APA they had any one of nine different illnesses. Basically, DSM-IV doesn't mean a thing unless it is the capable hands of a qualified shrink and looked into with a mutual interest by doc and patient alike.
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