- Home
- Find a Therapist
- Topic Streams
- Get Help
Mental Health
Addiction
ADHD
Anxiety
Asperger's
Autism
Bipolar Disorder
Depression
Eating Disorders
Insomnia
OCDPersonality
Passive Aggression
Personality
ShynessPersonal Growth
Happiness
Goal Setting
Positive PsychologyRelationships
Low Sexual Desire
Relationships
SexEmotion Management
Anger
Procrastination
StressFamily Life
Adolescents
Child Development
Elder Care
Parenting
SiblingsRecently Diagnosed?
Diagnosis Dictionary
- Magazine
- Tests
- Psych Basics
- Experts
The question of what constitutes a mental disorder is a hot issue right now because the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is in the process of making a major revision, from IV-R to V. In that regard, the authors are considering some significant changes to the definition of mental disorder. Read More
What makes cancer treatment and psychiatry different.
I have heard of people who worried they might have cancer go to the doctor for a biopsy and find out they did NOT have cancer. A cancer doctor will "turn away" a potential cancer patient just because he or she is not sick with cancer.
But I have never heard of a psychiatrist or psychologist turning away a patient because they didn't have some sort of psychological disorder. The minute a person shows up in the psychiatrist or psychologist's offices that person (normal or abnormal) MUST HAVE a psychological disorder.
Statistically speaking, this overwhelming predominance of psychiatric patients self-diagnosing themselves correctly to go to the psychiatric offices seems HIGHLY UNLIKELY. Why do ALL cancer doctors tell some patients that they do not have cancer but NO psychiatrists nor psychologists turn away any patients? Statistically speaking, it's impossible that every single patient who walks into a psychological or psychiatric office has a mental disorder but I have not personally heard of, read about, or seen media representations of any psychologist or psychiatrist turning away a patient for being mentally healthy and mentally well.
If you conducted today the same experiment from the 1960s where the psychiatrists pretended to experience a bunch of symptoms and were held in mental hospitals as a result, you would find the same or even a higher rate of hospitalization, I suspect.
Again, a difference between a cancer doctor and a psychiatrist is that just because the patient "feels like they have cancer," the cancer doctor doesn't prescribe a course of radiation therapy. The cancer doctor kicks the well person out of the office. But the psychiatrist would say that because the person "feels mentally ill" the patient should be given psychiatric treatment. Again, there are no objective standards for diagnosing the person. Just "feeling mentally ill" is enough to get a person diagnosed as mentally ill but "feeling cancerous" is not enough to get a person diagnosed as having cancer.
Statistically speaking, it's impossible for EVERY SINGLE PERSON who shows up in a psychological office to be mentally ill yet I have never seen any evidence of a psychiatrist or psychologist telling a person that due to their mental wellness and lack of a mental disorder, they don't need psychiatric treatment.
Cancer and Psychiatry
To Anonymous:
You raise a number of good points in your comment. It certainly is the case that there is a difference between 'cancer' and mental illness. However, I do need to make a point about the analogy you are drawing. While I agree that the vast majority of folks who present to a clinician's office feeling mentally ill receive a diagnosis, it is also the case that many folks believe they have a certain kind of mental disorder that they do not have. Consider the case in the example. As one who works with college students, I see many who believe they have ADD, but further assessment reveals an anxiety disorder. Thus, it is certainly the case that people can believe they have a mental illness diagnosis, but in fact do not.
Three other issues to consider.
First, subjective distress is an important element of illness, both biological and psychological. If an individual went to a physician complaining of significant pain, but no cause could be found, they would still be treated as a patient.
Second, psychiatric diagnoses are DESCRIPTIVE in nature, rather than eitological. That is, they are defined simply by the presence of symptoms, not by causes. This is a much scientifically weaker categorization system than one based on cause (but clinicians needed a reliable language first for diagnosing folks).
Third, as a professional psychologist, my treatment is only very loosely informed by an individual's DSM diagnosis. My goal as a treating psychologist is to enhance adaptive living. Knowing that some suffers from Major Depressive Disorder or Generalized Anxiety Disorder only informs me a little bit when it comes to how I work with them to improve. I am currently working on a system that I think matches the kinds of problems in living people have with treatment in a way that advances the DSM...
Best,
Gregg
Post new comment