Psychiatric Diagnostic Categories Lack Validity! So says the Director of NIMH

Want to get onboard with new ways of looking at things? Here’s a tip for you:

Watch the language you use to characterize a DIFFICULTY. Use language that creates a pathway for growth. That linguistic shift alone may loosen a bottleneck temporarily slowing your growth.

For decades many have questioned the ever increasing labeling of stress responses as psychiatric disorders. The use of these labels has all too often led people to believe that they are unfortunate, that they should accept their fate and that they should take psych-drugs for the rest of their lives. 

News Flash!

In recent weeks we have seen evidence of powerful voices rejecting the psychiatric diagnostic system out of hand. Tom Insell, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health notes on his blog that commonly used psychiatric diagnostic categories will no longer drive research. He notes, they lack validity, and he goes so far as to say, the public deserves better.

What does this mean for most folks? 

We are vulnerable. We have stress reactions. That must be taken into account by all of us.

Many of the so-called 'symptoms' of what has been characterized as a mental illness or a disorder are;

1) evidence of our vulnerability which when well understood, prompts us to be kinder to others and, 

2) evidence of psychological defenses that are automatically deployed as a Mind System seeks to re-establish balance.

And re-establish balance it does. Our Mind Systems are extraordinarily dynamic. Think about it; thoughts and feelings are constantly in flux. They are supposed to be in flux. Our Mind System is ever responsive to experience from moment to moment, nanosecond to nanosecond. With learning, with new perspectives, with time, our dynamic mind systems can and often do self correct and thrive. 

The Mental Health System in the US is Necessarily Undergoing a Major Paradigm Shift. 

Not only are more causes of DIFFICULTIES than biology being identified, the drugging of hundreds of thousands of adults and children in the US is being called into question. 

The scientific foundation for the characterization of most of OUR DIFFICULTIES as 'mental illness' or a  'psychiatric disorder' has crumbled. 

We have DIFFICULTIES, we become overwhelmed, we slip. We may have to lean on friends and family for a while. We may have to look to our faith and spiritual advisors for help. We may join self help groups and/or read self help books. There are now APPs under development to help us; 'Lift' to help us develop better habits, 'CBT Referee'  to help us bring our own critical thinking skills to bear upon our own thought process. 

Characterizing your DIFFICULTIES as a 'mental illness' or a 'psychiatric disorder' suggests causes are 'just' biological'. This is not a growth model. 

DIFFICULTIES can be overcome. Lessons can be learned. Defenses (stabilizing mechanisms) can be better deployed to regain balance. Characterizing what might be construed as a 'disorder' as rather, a DIFFICULTY opens many pathways for growth. 

So a tip (that is in effect 'neuro-linguistic programming’) is: 

Watch the language you use to characterize a DIFFICULTY. Use language that creates a pathway for growth. Again, that linguistic shift alone may loosen a bottleneck temporarily slowing growth.

Bookmark this blog and visit frequently for additional tips.

Written by Dr. Diane Kern, owner of Phenomenal Mind Studios. Classes and Individual Consultations are offered in Walnut Creek. Positive conceptions of the wherewithal of Mind in-form services. Email diane@phenomenalmind.com or call 925-279-8704.  See www.phenomenalmind.com.