Diagnosis and Serious Mental Illness

A decline in the clinical skills of psychiatrists is likely if proposed mental health reforms regulate psychiatric practice according to bureaucratic and technocratic definitions of serious mental illness rather than the realities of the clinical encounter between patient and doctor.

Abstract

We examine some limitations of the psychiatric diagnosis, particularly in the assessment of the seriousness of a patient's mental illness. The bureaucratic or technocratic use of the concept "serious mental illness' is contrasted with the perspective of the clinician who provides ongoing patient care. A decline in the clinical skills of psychiatrists is likely if proposed mental health reforms regulate psychiatric practice according to bureaucratic and technocratic definitions of serious mental illness rather than the realities of the clinical encounter between patient and doctor.