It's admittedly unscientific, but at least it's only six questions (compared to the monster 50-100 q quizzes I saw elsewhere). I know that there is a role for defining these various disorders, but I think it is unfortunate that there is not a personality type called 'normal' or 'appropriate.' It seems like psychiatry always has to label patients with something, even if they are fully functional. For example, when newly-diagnosed cancer patients are in the hospital, they often feel a bit anxious about their treatment and/or a bit depressed about their situation. This seems perfectly normal, yet a psychiatrist's note will label them with "adjustment disorder." Really? Isn't that how a normal person would react? If anything, I would be more concerned if the patient were perfectly happy and did not seem emotionally affected at all by his/her diagnosis. Anyway, my 'dependent' self is too concerned about your criticism to keep writing about this.
I remember a class discussion similar to this. At what point does a normal reaction become abnormal? Is there a certain amount of time where it's okay to feel one way but after that you might have a problem?
ReplyDeleteMy dog died when I was 10. I still get sad and teary when I think about it. Is that a mood disorder or is that me missing my best friend?
If a life partner passed away 6 months ago and one is still very emotional about it are they grieving or are they depressed? What if it were a year ago, 5 years, or 10?
Psychiatry is SO subjective.
"Your mood swings make a roller coaster look tame!
ReplyDeleteWhen you're up, you're a little bit crazy...
And when you're down, your whole world is crashing
Scary thing is, these moods can change by the minute!" ... Oh really!
I agree. Psychiatry is quite subjective. For me, sometimes, it's hard to balance my disdain for the seeming arbitrariness of some of the diagnoses with the actual disease burden that patients face. Sometimes, the disease labels serve to obscure what I consider to be the most important question: is the patient functionally impaired by their mental condition or not? The answer to this question is what really determines whether one has a mental health issue in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteSorry about your dog =(