Labeling Diagnostic Disorders In Research

Almost 43 million people in the United States are diagnosed and suffering with mental illnesses each year (Bekiempis). These suffering people are classified into specific psychiatric disorders; this is called labeling. Labeling disorders has become a modern debate. Some people argue that it is necessary to label mental illness conditions in order to improve research and help the patients get through their illness. Whereas some believe they should be labeled, others think that labels are harmful because of stigma formation, drugs and prescriptions and problems with diagnosis. However, despite some clear benefits of labeling the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders, they should not be labeled due to the negative effects it has on individuals.
The …show more content…
All types of behavioral disorders are placed into two main categories; internalized and externalized. An internalized disorder would be something such as anxiety or depression which affects mainly only the individual. Whereas an internalized disorder is aimed at themselves, an externalized disorder is characterized by actions directed at others (“Behavioral Disorders”). Along with the disorder being categorized, there is also two diagnostic model categories to pick from. The modern day standards and criteria is set by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. This manual outlines all criteria for diagnosing a personality disorder as well as offering dimensional and categorial approach for a diagnosis. The categorial approach is the “official” approach for diagnosis; it basically states that an individual either has a disorder or they do not which offers little to no gray area (Hoermann). A dimensional approach “allows for varying degrees of impairment or severity” (Hoermann). The most important problem with these approaches is that the official approach offers no gray area when all types of personality disorders need a gray area for interpretation. For disorders such as depression, there is a degree of severity that needs to be diagnosed, for example: severe depression and mild depression. It is simply unreasonable to diagnose the entire disorder based on the “official” categorial approach. There is also problems within the criteria offered by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Requirements needed for certain disorders are very broad and can be misleading (“Behavioral Disorders”). The criteria is completely “dependent upon who is performing the evaluation, as well as the child’s behavior while being evaluated” (“Behavioral Disorders”). Diagnosing someone with a disorder depends on so much more than one encounter, learning