For years we in the Existential Psychology have been shouting at the top of our lungs that the DSM is a fatally flawed approach to mental health. We’ve pointed out that there are no empirical bases for its categories, that its treatment approaches are often arbitrary, and that the entire exercise takes time, energy, and money,… Read more »
Photo by Jorge Royan. On April 1, The New York Times reported on the startling fact that 11% of children in the United States are now diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). One in five young males of high school age now have the diagnosis. Among children between the ages of 4 and 17,… Read more »
Photo by Richard Masoner. On December 1, without much fanfare, the Board of the American Psychiatric Association approved the draft of the DSM-5. Even as of today, more than a week later, very few news outlets have covered this major story. It seems as though the American Psychiatric Association would rather keep things quiet rather… Read more »
Photo by Richard Masoner On Friday, August 3rd, the Society for Humanistic Psychology (Division 32) hosted a special President’s Symposium at the American Psychological Association’s Annual Convention in Orlando, Florida. The symposium, titled “The DSM-5 Controversy,” was attended by more than 500 individuals, and was videotaped by the APA for C.E. credit viewing. Brent… Read more »
Some 11,000 mental health professionals have signed their names to a petition protesting the vast expansion of “mental illnesses” coming with the DSM-5, the “Bible of psychiatrists” which frequently determines what insurance companies will and won’t pay for. Accusations of bias, drug company money, and an attempt to “pathologize ordinary life” have dogged the DSM-5… Read more »
What is the link between existentialism and a manual that gives most people on the planet their mental health diagnoses? From Major Depressive Disorder, to ADHD, to Asperger’s Syndrome, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is the book in which psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals find the codes needed that allow… Read more »
