The field of mental health says something is a disorder if it causes a noticeable and real problem. It's a beautifully simple idea: "Is it causing a problem?

The field of mental health says something is a disorder if it causes a noticeable and real problem. It's a beautifully simple idea: "Is it causing a problem? If yes, let's help. If no, leave well enough alone." Quoting Wikipedia's summary (can't find my DSM-IV): >According to DSM-IV, a mental disorder is a psychological syndrome or pattern which is associated with distress (e.g. via a painful symptom), disability (impairment in one or more important areas of functioning), increased risk of death, or causes a significant loss of autonomy; however it excludes normal responses such as grief from loss of a loved one, and also excludes deviant behavior for political, religious, or societal reasons not arising from a dysfunction in the individual. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_disorder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_disorder We can argue about where to draw the line for distress or disability, but I just wanted to counter the myth that shrinks are totally subjective.