Psychiatry is an art

Re: “Proposed mental disorder targets ‘picky eaters’; Critics say research needed to confirm if diagnosis is true illness,”

The Journal, Jan. 25. Psychiatry continues to be one of the most amazing areas of the medical system. As you reported, the first volume of the psychiatric manual published in 1952 contained 28 disorders. The current one lists 357 and runs 886 pages.

If this progression holds true, the next edition, due out in 2013, should list even more disorders and be many more pages in length.

We all have our little “quirks.” But we are not alone. Many others have quirks similar to ours. And many others in turn have different “quirk groupings.”

It would appear, therefore, that the psy- chiatric profession is in the long run going to categorize all the various “quirk groupings” as having psychiatric disorders.

It then follows that there will be no “normal” persons left on Earth except the psychiatrists, who perhaps may in turn be treating each other.

Everyone will be on “disorder correcting treatments” until we all end up as identical human beings. Scary.

Psychiatry is an art, not a science, and the psychiatric profession should revert to treating recognizable mental disorders, not creating mental disorders for treatment.

Edward S. Redshaw, Edmonton