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Thursday, January 27, 2011

Al Frances, editor DSM-IV "...there is no definition of a mental disorder. It’s bullshit. I mean, you just can’t define it.”

Fascinating article. Click over to read in full.

Inside the Battle to Define Mental Illness | Magazine:
"Every so often Al Frances says something that seems to surprise even him. Just now, for instance, in the predawn darkness of his comfortable, rambling home in Carmel, California, he has broken off his exercise routine to declare that “there is no definition of a mental disorder. It’s bullshit. I mean, you just can’t define it.” Then an odd, reflective look crosses his face, as if he’s taking in the strangeness of this scene: Allen Frances, lead editor of the fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (universally known as the DSM-IV), the guy who wrote the book on mental illness, confessing that “these concepts are virtually impossible to define precisely with bright lines at the boundaries.” For the first time in two days, the conversation comes to an awkward halt..."
Of course I've long agreed [with comic books, of course] - "There's no such thing as crazy, just behavior that society has deemed unacceptable." - Charles Victor Szasz

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