The American Psychiatric Association is in the process of revising its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) , a handbook used by clinicians when making diagnoses of conditions such as depression, and some believe it may be going too far.
A new report by researchers at Columbia and New York universities argues that the newly proposed definition of depression, which includes grief after the loss of a loved one under the umbrella of depression, is opening the door for false-positive diagnosis of depression and the unnecessary treatment of people who are simply going through the normal process of grieving.
Other experts, however, argue that clinical depression can and often does occur as a result of grief. These proponents of the proposed changes feel that changing the criteria for a depression diagnosis will aid these people in getting the help that they need.
The 5th edition of the DSM, which is the first major update the manual has undergone since 1994, is due to be published in May 2013.
If you would like to learn more about the proposed changes, please visit http://www.dsm5.org/.
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I have heard that one of the proposals is that ALL HUMAN EMOTIONS IS MENTAL ILLNESS. And if so, than every one will be mentally ill. So everyone will be having their liberties taken away. Just who are the people that make these decissions out of law.
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