In the latest issue of Wired magazine, author Ethan Watters explains the early stages of America’s newest disorder: post-traumatic embitterment disorder.
The contemporary malady is an attempt to explain the symptoms of the financial worries that are running rampant in our society today.
Indication of the disorder includes simple signs such as sleeplessness, anxiety and constant worrying, to more complex characteristics such as breathing problems, rapid heart rate, chills, numbness and tingling in fingers.
We are not surprised that Americans are anxious to put a label on all of the current fears and frustrations associated with the economic crisis. An entire disorder with an official clinical title seems extreme, though. Shouldn’t saying you are stressed be an adequate explanation?
According to the American Psychiatric Association, the answer is no.
The APA is deciding on additions and deletions to the next edition of the psychologists’ diagnostic manual, the DSM-V, according to Watters, who just released a book titled Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche.
Mental health officials currently use the DSM-IV to diagnose and treat individuals who could be experiencing mental health issues. They are currently soliciting help from the public on symptoms that are most typically used to define new disorders. The APA is the expert, which means they should not be relying on the self-diagnosis of the masses.
If you ever turn on your television, you will know the next step in the process — drugs.
Celexa, Lexapro, Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft are just a few of the medications that pharmaceutical companies are anxious for you to consume if you are feeling blue.If a new, trendy disorder that most Americans relate to hits the market, a new drug will soon follow.
The people are sick so give them medicine, you could be thinking. We aren’t sure if Americans are really sick, though. How could record numbers in unemployment and the national deficit not worry people?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide ranked as the eleventh leading cause of death among people ages 10 years and older. The most recent statistic is from 2006, though so we are unsure if the current economic climate has caused a spike in depression related deaths.
It makes sense that the United States is playing an integral role in the discussion since we sparked the financial crisis that is now being felt across the globe.
But slapping a long-winded name on a common complaint provoked by financial crises and pushing pills on people should not be the answer. Talking about the bad decisions that got people into this mess might work better.
At the very least, it could help prevent times like these from happening again. Numbing the anxiety with a pill doesn’t cure the purported disorder; it only soothes the symptoms.
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