3 ms·

I find the debate about the utility of the diagnostic model to be so polarizing as to be useless. You can't totally reject some of these diagnoses, regardless o

I find the debate about the utility of the diagnostic model to be so polarizing as to be useless. You can't totally reject some of these diagnoses, regardless of how porous the boundaries, without depriving a lot of people of the care they need. On the other hand, it's hard to argue that the current diagnostic categories are working especially well for the people who aren't bullseyes. I stumbled on this paper when I was thinking about my own diagnoses of bipolar disorder and ADHD that explores why the comorbidity is so high, and ends up with a fascinating meta-analysis of how we think about diagnostic categories. I have no idea if this paper is respected, or has been totally debunked, because I don't have any context on the field. I did find it very helpful for myself, personally. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3028268/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3028268/

faeriechangling 3y ago
>You can't totally reject some of these diagnoses, regardless of how porous the boundaries, without depriving a lot of people of the care they need. Which is precisely why the DSM is a political document, designed for clinical utility, and not a scientific one. I will mention that several of the barriers to create we create to care are artificial. One of the most common fears I've heard from those with ADHD is that without their diagnosis being taken seriously they will lose access to their medication. Yet that's only an issue because we won't give people drugs, even if they find them helpful, unless prescribing physicians believes they are disordered. Consequently, there are ADHD communities who ban people diagnosed with ADHD for having too positive of a self-outlook. The entire system is deeply twisted. We've made acceptance of an intrinsically derogatory pseudoscientific nosology a gatekeeper, and put reflexively categorising patients as disordered at the centre of our care model.

faeriechangling 3y ago

>You can't totally reject some of these diagnoses, regardless of how porous the boundaries, without depriving a lot of people of the care they need. Which is precisely why the DSM is a political document, designed for clinical utility, and not a scientific one. I will mention that several of the barriers to create we create to care are artificial. One of the most common fears I've heard from those with ADHD is that without their diagnosis being taken seriously they will lose access to their medication. Yet that's only an issue because we won't give people drugs, even if they find them helpful, unless prescribing physicians believes they are disordered. Consequently, there are ADHD communities who ban people diagnosed with ADHD for having too positive of a self-outlook. The entire system is deeply twisted. We've made acceptance of an intrinsically derogatory pseudoscientific nosology a gatekeeper, and put reflexively categorising patients as disordered at the centre of our care model.