Posted by Simon Sobo, M.D. on September 15, 2010, at 11:16:34
In reply to Re: hrguru - Re: Anti-psychotics not mood stabilizers? » Simon Sobo, M.D., posted by SLS on September 15, 2010, at 7:10:41
Don't know if you read my article. I would appreciate your telling me whether you have. I did not do a scientific study but rather wrote it when all of a sudden half the patients being discharged from inpatient units were suddenly being discharged with a bipolar diagnosis. When I called the doctors about their diagnosis they cited "mood swings" as the reason. The patients did not have mood swings as is found in bipolar. I was also getting referrals from therapists asking me to give their patients "mood stabilizers" for their "mood swings." These patients were not bipolar. When I started checking around I found that this idea of mood swings had suddenly taken hold in all kinds of clinical situations. Alcohol programs were diagnosing half their patients with bipolar. Wild unruly teenagers, irritable patients, etc, etc. I wouold like you to read my article rather than go over the same thing here.
I don't get your reasoning regarding Dr. Frances' opinion that there is a pseudoepidemic "This is still opinion, and not the results of empirical study. Where is the evidence that there is indeed a "false epidemic" occurring? A sudden increase in the diagnosis of various disorders could be the result of greater accuracy in nosological categorization and diagnostics"
That quote regarding a false epidemic is from the head of the committee that put together DSM IV so referring to greater accuracy in nosological categorizaation is kind of meaningless since his committee created the new nosological categorization.
As to the 40 fold increase it is carefully documented in the link I included. Please look at it!!! But here it is Dr. Moreno from Columbia University (National Trends in the Outpatient Diagnosis and Treatment of Bipolar Disorder in Youth). The article is in the Sept 07 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, page 1032.
. By the way when I wrote to him congratulating him for his article, his comment was "Yeah, and wait til they make irritability a criteria in DSM V"
poster:Simon Sobo, M.D.
thread:960844
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100908/msgs/962463.html