IF THERE IS A PILL, THERE IS A DISORDER Laughing too much, or too long, is the primary symptom of a proposed new disorder.  It is referred to as "Emotional Incontinence," and labeled Involuntary Emotional Expression Disorder (IEED). There follows, of course, a pill to fix just that. The proposed new disorder is one more illustration of how the DSM is primarily driven by the psychopharmacological industry.  As we have reported in past Clinical Updates, the DSM pathologizes normal behavior, such as grief, sadness, shyness, healthy rebelliousness, and now...laughter. The Question: Which comes first: chicken or egg?  New medication or new disorder?  Does the disorder create the need for the pharmaceutical intervention or does the pharmaceutical invention create the need for a new diagnostic label? Old News: Drug companies fund, and reap the benefits of, research that is used to advocate new DSM diagnostic categories that can be treated by...pills. This is No Joke: The stock of Avanir Pharmaceutical, a psychopharmacological company. gained 14% when they announced that they have a pill to treat "Emotional Incontinence," labeled: Involuntary Emotional Expressions Disorder (IEED). Avanir Pharmaceuticals has received priority review status for Neurodex from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). More Details The latest "news" of  a new proposed disorder supports the analysis offered in our online course: DSM: Diagnosing for Money and Power (4 CEUs) Research on IEED claims the following: "Patients may find themselves laughing uncontrollably at something that is only moderately humorous, being unable to stop themselves for several minutes.  Episodes may also be mood-incongruent: a patient might laugh uncontrollably when angry or frustrated, for example." "IEED is also currently being considered for inclusion in the upcoming DSM V as one of two symptoms (of five possible) which must be present for a diagnosis of ADHD in adults." "Treatment for labile affect is usually pharmacological." [Sources: IR, or simply Google "IEED"] Your comments are welcome on our DSM Blog. As our online course, DSM: Diagnosing for Money and Power, documents: Most texts and graduate and postgraduate courses present the DSM as an objective, valid, and scientific document.  It is none of these. DSM-based research has repeatedly been shown to be of questionable validity and is, in fact, very unreliable. For example: Existential anxieties are sometimes labeled as "Anxiety Disorder" Shyness can too easily be seen and treated as "Social Phobia" Lasting grief becomes "Complicated Grief Reaction" Spirited and strong-willed children are afflicted with "Oppositional Disorder or ADD" Those experiencing spiritual events as labeled "Delusional". The DSM is primarily driven by the psychopharmacological industry, which reaps huge profits from each new diagnosis that can be treated with medication. According to the NY Times, more than half (56%) of the upcoming DSM V task force members, who oversee the next edition of the DSM, have ties to the drug industry.  The percentage was high - 100% in some cases - for experts who worked on sections of the manual devoted to severe mental illnesses. The upcoming DSM V is due to be published in 2012.  I propose a new title:   DSM V: If there is a pill, there is a disorder

Share this:

Follow us on: