I am grateful to Mr. Noel Koch at The American Spectator for pointing to the chicanery inherent in the deeply unscientifc theory and practice of 'Psychobabbling' - my word for this particular example of withcraft, not his. Apparently the very latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is about to be published. Did you notice in the photos above of the earlier editions how they keep getting bigger and bigger? Well, part of the reason is that the more you can stuff in it the more cash pours out of it into the gently rubbing together but ever-so sympathetic hands of the psychobabblers!
Thus, according to Mr. Koch, quoting the NYT, under the heading of 'Depression' there is currently no entry for 'bereavement'. Apparently, the psychobabblers are divided over this because whilst some feel that it is normal to feel sad when a loved one dies, others feel it is a pathology requiring treatment, er, for a fee, natch! Still, what's good for psychobabblers is also good for comedians according to Mr. Koch who reminds us that their tired and stale jokes about ladies suffering with PMT (Premenstrual Syndrome) can now be replaced with jokes about PDS (Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder) and whilst you might not be amused the psychobabblers are laughing all the way to the bank. Mr. Koch puts it this way:
It is statistically verifiable that once a behavioral condition, however transitory, is labeled a "disorder" the number of people diagnosed with the "disorder" goes zooming up the charts. Suddenly tens of thousands of people who formerly were reduced to having to pull up their socks and get on with their lives can now lie back on the couch and indulge a "disorder" they didn't previously know they had. That is very gratifying for some personalities and very lucrative for the person who "diagnosed" their disorder.
However, you should not assume that this is all a racket run solely for the benefit of the psychobabblers, oh dear me, no, because lurking off-stage rubbing its hands in eager joy is Big Pharma with a treasure trove of (eye-wateringly expensive) pills that will 'cure' this, that or the other 'disorder'. Unfortunately, some of these pills are slightly too effective in that they have a tendency to kill the patient, or to be precise, they encourage depressions of such magnitude that the patient often kills himself!
In my opinion, all psychobabblers should come with a government health warning!
Excellent post, DD, and there are frustrating and really disturbing aspects alongside the humour.
In Further Education, for example, we sometimes encounter 16 year old students who have been diagnosed with a variety of "syndromes" and disorders which are basically a free pass for any kind of bad behaviour. These are kids who in effect are allowed to threaten teaching staff and other students with the tools of their chosen trade, and to have foul-mouthed temper tantrums, just because their psychologist has deemed them to be a victim of their condition.
My favourite is "O.D.D.". "Oppositional Defiant Disorder". You probably think I'm joking, but check it out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppositional_defiant_disorder
They have their own support groups, websites, etc. To any sane person, this looks like a fancy name for being a disruptive little shit...
Posted by: Whyaxye | Wednesday, 18 July 2012 at 10:05
Well done, 'W', a new disorder - DLS syndrome!
Posted by: David Duff | Wednesday, 18 July 2012 at 10:23
"...tens of thousands of people who formerly were reduced to having to pull up their socks and get on with their lives..."
Autism, ME, ADD, etc etc etc.
I long ago observed that the only people who suffer from these things are those who can afford to; those who can't (or whose families can't afford it) get a swipe round the back of the head and told to get on with it.
Posted by: Andrew Duffin | Wednesday, 18 July 2012 at 12:25
"I long ago observed that the only people who suffer from these things are those who can afford to ..."
Have you ever noticed that only rich women suffer from Munchausen by Proxy Disorder? Poor women who harm their children are sent to jail.
Posted by: Dom | Wednesday, 18 July 2012 at 13:56
Andrew and Dom, it was ever thus.
Although, I suppose I should add a rider to the effect that there really are such things as mental/physical disorders which are deserving of medical treatment. Alas, they are frequently ill-served by the psychobabbling fraternity.
Posted by: David Duff | Wednesday, 18 July 2012 at 14:24
"In Further Education, for example, we sometimes encounter 16 year old students who have been diagnosed with a variety of "syndromes" and disorders which are basically a free pass for any kind of bad behaviour. These are kids who in effect are allowed to threaten teaching staff and other students with the tools of their chosen trade, and to have foul-mouthed temper tantrums, just because their psychologist has deemed them to be a victim of their condition.
My favourite is "O.D.D.". "Oppositional Defiant Disorder". You probably think I'm joking, but check it out:"
Psychiatrists, surely.
They're the ones getting the big bucks to prescribe those eye waveringly expensive meds 'Big Pharma' is pumping out. Those are the people I'd be challenging if I were you but for some reason nobody ever does that. It's like blaming the foot soldiers and leaving the generals alone. The most resource intensive 'mental illnesses' in 'young adults' are the eating disorders and a fair proportion of those are private school brats. Just saying.
Posted by: Louise | Wednesday, 25 July 2012 at 13:40
Hello, Louise, good to hear from you again. There used to be a 'witty' saying which summed up the difference between psychiatrists and psychologists but for the life of me I can't remember it which is why I tend, rather sloppily, to bung them all in under the heading of "psychobabblers". When it comes to investigations of the mind I think the quacks are at the leeches stage once considered the very latest medical science in medieval times!
Posted by: David Duff | Wednesday, 25 July 2012 at 16:57
Here are a few things psychologists cannot do:
1. They cannot forcibly medicate you:
"I had my revenge however, I ordered her to be held down and injected in the buttock"
2. They cannot force treatment upon you against your will unless they have the permission of a psychiatrist.
3. They cannot imprison you.
4. They cannot get you off a murder charge by invoking the insanity defence.
Big Pharma may be to blame for lots of seriously undesirable stuff but is the psychiatrist who is the essential intermediary. Psychiatrists are probably the most powerful "doctors" in the medical profession. They have an unjustified hegemony over the other medical specialisms and are (rightly) resented for this.
They have more power than a wirchfinder general.
But don't listen to me: I'm nuts.
Posted by: Louise | Thursday, 26 July 2012 at 11:22
If you're nuts, Louise, where does that put me? However, you very definitely know where-of you speak and I appreciate your views.
Posted by: David Duff | Thursday, 26 July 2012 at 14:47