Undisclosed financial conflicts of interest in DSM-5

47 renameme 7 8/26/2025, 4:57:44 PM bmj.com ↗

Comments (7)

dlcarrier · 34m ago
When the APA elected Philip Zimbardo, creator of the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment#Cri...), as their president (https://www.apa.org/about/governance/president/bio-philip-zi...) they lost my trust. He came up with a hypothesis on human behavior, then did everything he could to force the data to reflect that, including coercing volunteers into torturing each other.

His whole career revelved around promoting strategies for policing and incarceration that clearly don't work, and the APA celebrated him for it. They have a huge bias toword the notion that everyone needs their help. Problems with the DSM wouldn't matter so much, if the APA hadn't shoehorned themselves, and their bible of the DSM, into countless aspects of government and healthcare.

mapontosevenths · 21m ago
Sometime in the early 2000's we passed a point where more than 50% of the population had an AXIS 2 or higher chemical disorder. It was around this point that I became skeptical of the DSM.

If the majority of people are crazy, it's likely that our definition of "crazy" needs work.

That said, the situation isn't as dire as some folks with a vested interest would have you believe... If you're reading this and you're someone who needs to hear it: Keep taking your medicine! They'll work the kinks out eventually, and even if there is a conspiracy, it isn't against you personally.

SketchySeaBeast · 16m ago
What is an Axis II chemical disorder? I'm fairly certain that Axis II was personality disorders and intellectual disabilities in the DSM IV.

70% of 60 years of age and older people have high blood pressure[1], 50% of men overall. Does this mean that our definition of high blood pressure need work?

I'm not arguing that the DSM is perfect, but it's possible for something to be bad and also common. I appreciate the sentiment as well, it's a bigger problem overall, but it can still help people.

[1] https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db511.htm

lazide · 54s ago
Eh, also typical American society has become profoundly hostile to actual human needs.
antithesizer · 33m ago
So much graft and politicking masquerading as science these days.
gizajob · 2m ago
What a surprise.
slater · 2h ago
(2024)