Psychiatric diagnoses deemed "without scientific significance"

A new study, published in Psychiatry Research, concluded that psychiatric diagnoses are scientifically worthless as tools to identify discrete mental health disorders.

The study, led by researchers from the University of Liverpool, included a detailed analysis of five key chapters of the latest edition of the widely used Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) on "schizophrenia". , "bipolar disorder" and "depressive disorders". , "Anxiety disorders" and "trauma disorders".

Diagnostic manuals such as the DSM have been created to provide a common diagnostic language for mental health professionals and attempt to provide a definitive list of mental health issues, including their symptoms.

The main conclusions of the research are as follows:

• Psychiatric diagnoses all use different decision-making rules

• Symptoms overlap dramatically between diagnoses

• Almost all diagnoses mask the role of trauma and adverse effects

• Diagnoses tell us little about each patient and the treatment they need

The authors conclude that diagnostic labeling represents "a fallacious categorical system".

Kate Allsopp, senior researcher at the University of Liverpool, said: "Although diagnostic labels create the illusion of an explanation, they are scientifically meaningless and can create stigma and prejudices. I hope these results will inspire mental health professionals to go beyond diagnoses and consider other explanations for mental distress, such as trauma and other negative life experiences. "

Professor Peter Kinderman, from the University of Liverpool, said: "This study provides further evidence that the biomedical diagnostic approach in psychiatry is not suited to its purpose. Diagnoses that are frequently and indiscriminately reported as "true diseases" are in fact established on the basis of inconsistent, confused and contradictory internal patterns of largely arbitrary criteria. The diagnostic system mistakenly assumes that any distress results from a disorder and relies heavily on subjective judgments about what is normal. "

Professor John Read, of the University of East London, said, "It may be time for us to stop pretending that medical-sounding labels contribute to our understanding of the complex causes of human distress or the type of help we need when we are in distress. "

Reference: Allsopp, K., Read, J., Corcoran, R. and Kinderman, P. (2019). Heterogeneity in the psychiatric diagnostic classification. Psychiatry Research, 279, 15-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2019.07.005

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