AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION: HALF OF AMERICANS ‘MENTALLY ILL’
Critics see broadened diagnostics as tool to curb civil rights
In a move with implications for every American, the American Psychiatric Association’s new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders takes obfuscation and euphemistic language to a whole new level, calling temper tantrums “disruptive mood dysregulation disorder” and labeling grief “major depressive disorder.”
Overeating? That’s “binge eating disorder.” Are you forgetful? You can be treated for “mild neurocognitive disorder,” reports Ian Sample of the London Guardian.
The definitions are more than semantics, however, as the highly influential manual is referenced by clinicians, researchers, psychiatric drug regulation agencies, health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, courts and lawmakers.
Based on the broadened definitions and categories, the new edition asserts that nearly half of all Americans will face a diagnosable mental illness at some point in their life. That’s up from fewer than 6 percent just eight years ago.
The sharp increase comes as the federal government begins to implement the government-controlled Obamacare system and Democrat lawmakers use mental health issues as a reason to curb gun rights.
Critics are expressing concern that the new edition of the manual could be insidiously used by government to label certain Americans with mental disorders as a pretext for curbing rights of all kinds.