The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is the compilation of ten years of work by the American Psychiatric
Many of us in the medical field have known of this problem since medical school. The criteria for a given diagnosis is vague and impossible to document, especially in a busy clinical setting, yet they are handed out like samples at a grocery store. Once a diagnosis hits a patient’s medical record, they have it for life. Due to the nature of the human brain, receiving a label becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy where people take on the identity of their diagnosis.