Diagnosis Chapter 14

·  A set of views that psychiatry is harmful

·  Disorders that are vague - defined by symptoms with little understanding of the biology

·   Treatments that have limited effectiveness and high potential for side effects

·  Involuntary treatment - does not exist in medicine outside of psychiatry

· Set of negative beliefs that a group of people share

· Employment discrimination

· Barred from many jobs

· Prevents people from seeking treatment

· Reproductive or legal rights may be limited

· Defining who is rational and who is not lends itself to political abuse

• · Every developed country has history of political dissidents and political opponents
• being declared "insane" or "mentally incompetent" to discredit them

· State was allowed to imprison people against their will

· Dependent on cultural definitions of normal and abnormal behavior

* Helps determine when someone needs treatment and helps determine what that treatment is

* Helps guide the legal system - when someone is in control of their actions and when they are not

* Helps guide the economy of treatment - insurance coverage

* Helps guide training of treatment professionals, so their "scope" of practice is defined and they can systematically develop competencies