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Anatomy Of Epidemics

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Editions are being revised, diagnoses are increasing, yet the behavior of Americans seems to be remaining the same. In no math class do those things add up. The discrepancy does not lie in the math, it lies within outside influences. As the number of possible diagnosable mental disorders increases, so does the amount of mentally ill Americans. Pathologizing the normal and increased pharmaceutical use has led to widespread increase of incorrect mental illness diagnosis. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) as defined by the American Psychiatric Association is the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health professionals in the United States (American Psychiatric Association, 2014). The first …show more content…

69 percent of the creators of the fifth Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders reported that the DSM had connections to the pharmaceutical industry (Cosgrove & Krimsky, 2012). Robert Whitakers research in his book “The Anatomy of an Epidemic” showed that many of the medications that are prescribed for psychiatric disorders actually end up hurting the patient more than helping them (Whitaker, 2010). Often people are prescribed medication for a psychiatric disorder which is actually just a pathologized version of normal human behavior. Taking these medications for essentially no reason eventually harms the patient because they frequently cause episodic and moderate emotional behavioral problems to be severe, chronic and disabling ones (Whitaker, 2010). This leads to a further rise in mental disorders, actual mental disorders. When we use drugs to get rid of symptoms we weaken our capacity to cope with the situations and we remove our ability to transcend the problem on our own. The research shows that using these drugs for short term treatment can be effective for some people but often they increase the chance that the person who is taking the drug becomes chronically ill in the long run (Whitaker, 2010). Therefore many people, who are treated for a mental disorder that could most often be treated with therapy, end up …show more content…

To this day no scientific tests have been done to support the existence of ADHD. As it stands the diagnostic criteria for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder are essentially reflective of normal childhood behavior. The behaviors that someone needs to elicit in order to be categorized with attention deficit hyperactive disorder, include behaviors such as: “often has difficulties organizing tasks and activities”; “often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained mental effort”; “often loses things necessary for tasks or activities”; “is often on the go”; “often talks excessively”; and “often interrupts or intrudes on others” (American Psychiatric Association, 2014). These criteria for ADHD are found in most children but not all children have Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders has taken normal behaviors of a child and reclassified them to be characterized into a disorder. If psychiatry was against pathologizing normal behavior then disorders like ADHD which are essentially just descriptions of normal childhood behavior would be eliminated. Children would therefore be put on medication less often and therefore would lead to less serious disorders based off of the findings of Whitaker. Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder is

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