Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Most Americans are
"It seems the whole world is mad but for me and thee, and sometimes I wonder about thee..."
The NY Times warns us...
More than half of Americans will develop a mental illness at some point in their lives ... researchers have found in a survey that experts say will have wide-ranging implications for the practice of psychiatry.Or maybe not...
Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, the primary sponsor of the study, said in a conference call with reporters, "The key point to remember is that mental disorders are highly prevalent and chronic."
On the other side are psychiatrists who say they believe that the estimates are inflated. "Fifty percent of Americans mentally impaired - are you kidding me?" said Dr. Paul McHugh, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University.When we start handing out prizes for the likes of chocolate sausage I'll be worried.
While the new survey was carefully done, Dr. McHugh said, "the problem is that the diagnostic manual we are using in psychiatry is like a field guide and it just keeps expanding and expanding."
"Pretty soon," he said, "we'll have a syndrome for short, fat Irish guys with a Boston accent, and I'll be mentally ill."
