Comments | naamah_darling: NIMH does the smart thing, ditches the DSM

naamah_darling

NIMH does the smart thing, ditches the DSM

May 07, 2013 03:26

The National Institute of Mental Health is abandoning the DSM.

This is potentially monumental, and I've seen very little mention of it anywhere. Partly, I think, because people don't really grok how big a deal this is.

This is a very good thing, and for those who don't grasp why, I will try to explain. (Though the link does a really great job of ( Read more... )

r2m, lycanthropy

Comments 30

poptartodoom May 7 2013, 09:37:26 UTC

Ooooh. VERY interesting!

roq May 7 2013, 10:11:53 UTC

This is a Ted talk about reclassifying mental illnesses as brain disorders which may lead to catching them earlier from the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, Thomas Insel. It's less than 15 minutes long. I thought it might be relevant.

ladybugpurple May 7 2013, 14:49:37 UTC

Wow, that's a surprise!! They've been needing to do SOMEthing, that's for sure. When in my Abnormal Psychology class, the professor told us being addicted to nicotene was considered a mental disorder. He didn't seem impressed with the DSM, and I can't be surprised. I've never read anything in it myself, but from what he said and what you're saying, it sounds like definite improvements need to made. It's good to know they're BEING made too ( ... )

cissa May 11 2013, 22:54:53 UTC

I'm readily dissociative, and some of that strays into "split personality" stuff. Or it can, if I don't keep a lid on it, which I almost always do.

But hell- it's HANDY. When there's a crisis, I can step in, cold, and handle it... and then fall apart later. How is that a Bad Thing? It's sure been really handy, both for myself in an abusive childhood, AND for others, like when my husband had a stroke (that fortunately turned out minor).

ladybugpurple May 11 2013, 23:14:26 UTC

Yeah, I can see how it can be helpful too. That happened to a friend of mine since she was abused too. The brain is just SUCH an interesting thing, and I ALSO find it interesting that we STILL don't know SO MUCH about it.

brightlotusmoon May 7 2013, 18:08:04 UTC

Sharing/Copying.

Needs to be HEARD.

brightlotusmoon May 7 2013, 18:20:47 UTC

"Also, I am sometimes other people, a little bit. The DSM doesn't acknowledge those things as a deliberately and carefully cultivated coping mechanism, only as a bad thing indicative of other bad things. In context, it is healthy. In the book, it's pathological. Regardless, it's a sanity-saver, and one I continually seek to reinforce. Doesn't matter how it looks on paper. Say hello to the boys. They keep me safe ( ... )

naamah_darling May 7 2013, 20:49:51 UTC

*waves at the girls* *boys say hello*

I am FASCINATED by your guides, because YOUR whole deal is so different from MY whole deal, yet. . . .

It's just really cool. I find the whole thing amazing. I want to hug your girls. And am super-curious about the potential fourth. I'm sure she'll show up when it's time.

I know a lot of people believe in "their" guardian angel who shows up when shit gets real, and I can't help thinking that's a version of what you experience.

To their credit, every professional I have confessed this to, after listening to me describe what it is and how it works, has been impressed with the strength of the coping response, and has agreed with me that it's a healthy, sustainable, workable solution to a problem that medicine simply cannot at this time solve or even, to any great degree, alleviate. Granted, they could be putting something totally different in the notes, I don't know, but they don't seem to think it's maladaptive, at least ( ... )

brightlotusmoon May 7 2013, 21:20:00 UTC

You know what is funny? When I did Googling on Healthy Multiplicity, people got offended when the characters got called Coping Mechanisms. *scratches head ( ... )

naamah_darling May 7 2013, 21:57:57 UTC

I would be SO HAPPY to discuss my girls with you. Come at me with questions, I don't care what they are!

Back atcha.

and she liked to soothe people and comfort people, even victims before feeding. That sounds SO MUCH like some of the characters I have had. Some of the most unlikely characters have had powerful nurturing/protecting instincts. Eve, the evil superheroine?* Mama bear all OVER the place. Literally the last thing I expected out of her, but turned out to be a core feature of her personality. I liked her a lot better after I realized that ( ... )

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