| How Many of These Ridiculous
"Disorders" Do YOU Suffer From?
By Christopher Kent, D.C., J.D.
An article titled “Retail Therapy1” caught my
attention. It described the results of a study where “compulsive
shoppers” were treated with either the drug Citalopram or a placebo. The
lead researcher was thrilled with the results, “Patients said to me: ‘I
go to the shopping mall with my friends and I don’t buy anything.’”
Well, this patient at least bought something -- the notion that
excessive shopping is a disease to be treated with medication.
What constitutes excessive shopping? The article states that
one of the subjects “owned 55 cameras.” I once collected cameras.
Perhaps that makes me a “victim” of this disease. By the way, the
treatment came with a price -- “some side effects, which include loss of
sexual desire and sleepiness.” The study further admits, “It is not
known why Citalopram is effective for treating compulsive shoppers.”
With big pharma seeking new markets for existing drugs, and developing
drugs in search of diseases, it is not surprising that many of life’s
challenges are no longer considered legitimate components of the human
experience, but are now medical conditions amenable to treatment.
The Definition of a Medicalized
Society
Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary 2
defines “medicalize” as follows: “To handle or accept as deserving of or
appropriate for medical treatment.”
Sato3 offers a more specific
definition for medicalization: “A process or a tendency whereby the
phenomena which had belonged to other fields like education, law,
religion, and so on have been redefined as medical phenomena.”
Examples abound in psychiatry’s code book for psychiatric
disorders and “conditions or problems ... which may be a focus of
clinical attention and require appropriate coding ...” This remarkable
tome is DSM-IV4. DSM-1 was first published in 1952,
titled Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
My journey into DSM-IV made me think I had fallen into Alice’s
rabbit hole.
Normal Human Experience Now
Masqueraded as “Disorders”
Do you have difficulty sleeping after drinking coffee? The
problem isn’t a product of your poor judgment in guzzling java
immediately before retiring. You are a victim of 292.89 --
Caffeine-Induced Sleep Disorder F15.8. If you reflect on your shyness
while tossing and turning, the problem could be the epidemic of 300.23
-- Social Phobia F40.1. Don’t worry. Drug treatment is available.
Unfortunately, if you’re thinking about your place in the
cosmos or spiritual issues, you’ve got V62.89 -- Religious or Spiritual
Problem Z71.8, and I couldn’t locate a drug for that.
Bad parenting is about to become a thing of the past. It’s not
your fault, or your child’s fault. Besides the ubiquitous pandemic of
ADHD, there are other disorders you may not be aware of.
Your ill-behaving child may be suffering from 313.81 --
Oppositional Defiant Disorder F91.3. If your child often argues with
adults, loses their temper, deliberately annoys people, etc., you’re
dealing with ODD. Of course, this must be differentiated from 312.8 --
Conduct Disorder F91.8, and 312.9 -- Disruptive Behavior Disorder Not
Otherwise Specified F91.9.
Should the problem be getting along with a brother or sister,
the condition is V61.8 -- Sibling Relational Problem F93.3. And should
you argue with your spouse about whether the child should be grounded or
drugged, you might be looking down the barrel of V61.1 -- Partner
Relational Problem Z63.0.
If math homework is a challenge, be sure to check for 315.1 --
Mathematics Disorder F81.2. You must be careful not to confuse this with
a V62.3 -- Academic Problem Z55.8. If things are OK in the math
department, but you have a teen experiencing uncertainty about life
goals, career preferences, values, loyalties, etc., you’re dealing with
313.82 Identity Problem F93.8. This has been downgraded from a
“disorder” in DSM-III-R, to a mere “problem” in DSM-IV. I’ll bet that
makes you feel better.
A Pill for Every Issue You Don’t Want
to Face
A plethora of sexual issues are described as “disorders.” We
are all familiar with Bob Dole making erectile dysfunction a household
word, with the blue pill offering a solution. But that’s just the tip of
the, um, iceberg. If the target of your libidinal interest is ignoring
you, the problem may be 302.71 Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder F52.2.
Lest anyone be offended, I will not address the other disorders
codified in Chapter 20. Simply be happy that there are solutions that do
not require you to address issues in your relationship.
Men can obtain testosterone cream if a doctor determines that
it’s “right for you.” The stuff is said to work well. According to an ad
in JAMA5, “Sexual enjoyment and satisfaction with
erection duration were improved vs. baseline, but these improvements
were not significant compared to placebo.” The ad shows a couple
dancing, a couple riding a motorcycle, and two pictures of men swinging
golf clubs (alone) and smiling.
Perhaps the next version of DSM will have a category for “golf
disorders.”
REFERENCES
- Wood H: Retail therapy. Nature Reviews Neuroscience
2003;4:700.
- Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary. Barnes and
Noble. New York. 1996.
- Sato A:
Medicalization and medicalization theories.
- Reed WH, Wise MG: DSM-IV Training Guide. Brunner/Mazel,
Inc. Philadelphia, PA. 1995.
- JAMA 2003;290(11):1427.
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