Key Psychiatric Doctor Rejects Name Change for PTSD

[pinboy3niner]

Source: PBS NewsHour

May 10, 2012 at 4:15 PM EDT
By: Daniel Sagalyn




PHILADELPHIA | A key leader in the psychiatric community has rejected the idea of altering the name of a traumatic condition affecting an estimated tens of thousands of U.S. combat veterans -- a move that effectively blocks growing efforts by a small group of psychiatrists and military brass concerned about reducing patient stigma.

Dr. Matthew Friedman, who is chairing the committee that is updating the trauma section of the dictionary of mental illness, said changing the name of the condition could have "unintended negative consequences" because "it would confuse the issue and set up diagnostic distinctions for which there is no scientific evidence." The dictionary, known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, is considered the bible by the psychiatric association.

Last year, then-Army Vice Chief of Staff Peter Chiarelli asked the American Psychiatric Association to modify the name of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The four star general says calling the condition a "disorder" perpetuates a bias against the mental health illness and is a barrier to veterans getting the care they need.

More recently, two leading trauma psychiatrists similarly asked the Association, which is updating its dictionary of mental health illness, to change the word "disorder" to "injury," calling the condition PTSI instead.

But at Monday's psychiatric association annual conference, Friedman said the net effect of such a modification would be to tinker with a psychiatric diagnosis rather than help patients. "To change to PTSI without anything else would accomplish nothing positive," Friedman said.

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MUCH MORE at link:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/05/key-psychiatric-doctor-rejects-name-change-for-ptsd.html

[BlueIris]

1. Self-delete.

Wrong forum.