Reading the post Childhood is not a mental disorder on the @Pediatria(In Twitter) Test-Based Pediatrics blog I find out about some possible modifications that will be presented with the DSM-V. For those of you who do not know, the DSM is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, in English Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association; and it is the reference document in the classification of mental disorders and diagnostic description.
Why am I telling you this? Because this document, as cited in the article on Evidence-Based Pediatrics, appears "new diagnoses that could be extremely common in the general population and lower diagnostic thresholds for many existing disorders." And the main victims are going to be children since it introduces child tantrums as a mental disorder or reduces the criteria for diagnosing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. For practical purposes, this situation will stigmatize many children and will make them consumers of drugs that can make them dependent.
As parents, we will have to be very vigilant and value very well the statements we make about the behavior of our children in the consultations of pediatricians, psychologists, and psychiatrists because our children are going to be examined in the light of a new benchmark that can make them fall in a spiral that will be detrimental to them and us. Anyway, it seems that at least we can hope in the criteria of pediatricians in the USA.
Image Source -https://theconversation.com/growing-up-too-fast-early-puberty-and-mental-illness-13159