The new ‘normal’

How our society decides what is normal and what isn't affects everyone, generating huge expenditures, deciding eligibility for aid and deciding insurance rates and coverage.

Historically, we considered 'abnormal” those who harmed others or themselves or otherwise did not fit in society. Once, witches were burned. In their defense, if most of society performed witchcraft, it would have been considered normal.

Today, 'normal” is used to label the statistical group that behave according to experts' criteria and definitions, the research and theories of the mental health profession. 'Normal” is the vast number who fit.

In 2013, the Bible of normalcy, the DSM-V or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition, turned normalcy into a hot potato. Changes included the criteria for binge eating, grief, hoarding and autism. The changed guidelines for our society were compiled in the recent edition.

Binge Eating is a new disorder, as is hoarding. Grief has been classified as a disorder, whereas once it had been considered a normal part of sadness - for example, that melancholy we feel at the death of a loved one.

For the diagnosis of autism, the DSM-V places Asperger's syndrome and autistic disorder into a single category (the rate of diagnoses of such conditions has exploded over the past decade). In contrast, all personality disorders are now in a single category, a move which Valerie Porr, founder of the non-profit Treatment and Research Advancements Association for Personality Disorder, has called 'a disaster.”

Dr. Allen Francis, editor of the previous version of the manual, has been a vocal critic of the changes, saying: 'DSM-V opens up the possibility that millions and millions of people currently considered normal will be diagnosed as having a mental disorder and will receive medication and stigma they don't need.”

Already, as 20 percent of the population suffers from some form of mental disorder, according to the Bible of normalcy.

Forget temper tantrums, try Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder. Some fear these new diagnoses will lead to, or increase, the overmedication of our youth.

There are no biological tests for any mental disorder. Research shows diagnoses can be flawed. Stigma can be life changing. The labels lifelong footnotes.

As Francis has noted, loosening diagnoses may 'turn current diagnostic inflation into diagnostic hyperinflation.” New diagnoses that could affect you, your family, your work and your well-being. Diagnoses which may lead people to hide behaviors because they want to appear 'normal”.

' Tim Trenkle of Dubuque teaches psychology and writing at Northeast Iowa Community College. Comments: trenklet@nicc.edu