3 ms·

The DSM disorders are all 'syndromes' in the sense that there is no necessary 'underlying cause' for each diagnosis listed. We basically don't understand mental

The DSM disorders are all 'syndromes' in the sense that there is no necessary 'underlying cause' for each diagnosis listed. We basically don't understand mental health enough yet to have a reliable, consistent categorization of mental disease. If you look at how the DSM has changed over time, new entries are often added that reflect new 'syndromes' that appear prevalent in society, while older ones are dropped. Basically there's no particularly strong reason to view a mental health issue as being 'less real' just because it's not listed in the DSM, because the DSM itself is just a (out of date) grab bag of common syndromes that are seen in the wild. [1] [2]. [1] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/psychiatry/#DsmConMenIllCri https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/psychiatry/#DsmConMenIllC... [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3101504/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3101504/

brudgers 10y ago
I don't disagree with any of that. Clinical mental health generally follows the medical model of symptoms as observable fact, syndromes as clusters of observable facts, and disorders in the realm of mental health and disease in the realm of medicine being the set of conclusive diganoses. The distinctive symptom of impostor syndrome is success. It is hard to see how it reconciles with the medical model while avoiding Occam's razor. None of which is to suggest that anyone's experiences are illegitimate or their concerns are any less real. My concern is that pop-psychology self-diagnosis may increase the odds that a more serious issue goes without clinical treatment. The acceptability of having impostor syndrome is the flip side to the stigma attached to receiving treatment from a mental health professional.
- nzjrs 10y ago
  Agree, but if we fix pop-psychology self-diagnosis HN traffic would halve! My favourite part of HN is the race to claim to have aspergers/adhd/anxiety disorder in every thread remotely connected to psychology.
  - grzm 10y ago
    Please don't use inflammatory language like pop-psychology self-diagnosis and frantic race around what you admit are contentious topics. It doesn't serve civil and constructive discussion or your point, regardless of the topic.
    - nzjrs 10y ago
      Fair enough. I removed "frantic" from my post. The trigger warning was implicit because this is real life.

brudgers 10y ago

I don't disagree with any of that. Clinical mental health generally follows the medical model of symptoms as observable fact, syndromes as clusters of observable facts, and disorders in the realm of mental health and disease in the realm of medicine being the set of conclusive diganoses. The distinctive symptom of impostor syndrome is success. It is hard to see how it reconciles with the medical model while avoiding Occam's razor. None of which is to suggest that anyone's experiences are illegitimate or their concerns are any less real. My concern is that pop-psychology self-diagnosis may increase the odds that a more serious issue goes without clinical treatment. The acceptability of having impostor syndrome is the flip side to the stigma attached to receiving treatment from a mental health professional.

nzjrs 10y ago
Agree, but if we fix pop-psychology self-diagnosis HN traffic would halve! My favourite part of HN is the race to claim to have aspergers/adhd/anxiety disorder in every thread remotely connected to psychology.
- grzm 10y ago
  Please don't use inflammatory language like pop-psychology self-diagnosis and frantic race around what you admit are contentious topics. It doesn't serve civil and constructive discussion or your point, regardless of the topic.
  - nzjrs 10y ago
    Fair enough. I removed "frantic" from my post. The trigger warning was implicit because this is real life.