What does hoarding tell us about mental health?

Rachel Cooper on classifying mental disorders and the DSM

Psychiatric classification and subjective experience

This article does not directly consider the feelings and emotions that occur in mental illness. Rather, it concerns a higher level methodological question: To what extent is an analysis of feelings and felt emotions of importance for psychiatric classification? Some claim that producing a phenomenologically informed descriptive psychopathology is a prerequisite for serious taxonomic endeavor. Others think that classifications of mental disorders may ignore subjective experience. A middle view holds that classification should at least map the contours of the phenomenology of mental illness. This article examines these options. I conclude that it is not true that phenomenology is a logical prerequisite for classification, nor even that classification should necessarily respect phenomenological boundaries, but that detailed phenomenological examination can sometimes inform classification

Why is the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders so hard to revise?:path-dependence and “lock-in” in classification

The latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the D.S.M.-5, was published in May 2013. In the lead up to publication, radical changes to the classification were anticipated; there was widespread dissatisfaction with the previous edition and it was accepted that a “paradigm shift” was required. In the end, however, and despite huge efforts at revision, the published D.S.M.-5 differs very little from its predecessor. This paper considers why it is that revising the D.S.M. has become so difficult. The D.S.M. is such an important classification that this question is worth asking in its own right. The case of the D.S.M. can also serve as a study for considering stasis in classification more broadly; why and how can classifications become resistant to change? I suggest that classifications like the D.S.M. can be thought of as forming part of the infrastructure of science, and have much in common with material infrastructure. In particular, as with material technologies, it is possible for “path dependent” development to cause a sub-optimal classification to become “locked in” and hard to replace

First do no harm?:what role should considerations of potential harm play in revising the D.S.M.?

Guidelines for revisions to D.S.M.-5 asked those proposing changes to consider potential harms to patients. This has been controversial. This paper argues that seeking to do no harm is appropriate when constructing a scientific classification scheme. I show that in many cases considerations of harm avoidance can play a role in influencing the design of the D.S.M. without the pursuit of scientific knowledge being compromised. I then turn to cases where compromise is required. Through a consideration of cases where lying is required to save lives I suggest that it is widely accepted that harm-avoidance can trump truth-telling. In extreme circumstances a psychiatric classification might thus set out to mislead in order to prevent harm

Anxiety, Nostalgia, And Mistrust: Findings from the 2015 American Values Survey

The nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) conducted the 2015 American Values Survey among 2,695 Americans between September 11 and October 4, 2015. The sixth annual AVS measures public opinion about the economy, racial discrimination, the criminal justice system, trust in public institutions, perception of the Tea Party, the relationship between religious affiliation and political attitudes, views of immigrants, and how demographic changes impact the cultural landscape in the country

Beyond Same-Sex Marriage: Attitudes on LGBT Nondiscrimination Laws and Religious Exemptions - Finding from the 2015 American Values Atlas

Across 2015, the year that saw same-sex marriage become legal in all 50 states following the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision in June, public opinion on same-sex marriage remained remarkably stable. Based on interviews with more than 42,000 Americans conducted between May and December 2015, PRRI finds that 53% of Americans support allowing gay and lesbian people to legally marry, while 37% are opposed.In surveys conducted during May 2015, the month before the Supreme Court decision, 53% of the public on average supported same-sex marriage. Weekly tracking polls showed no significant shift in opinion as a result of the court decision, with the June average showing 55% support and the July average showing 53% support

Measures to assess wellbeing in low-carbon-dioxide cities

Policies aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions often focus on the need to change existing behaviours and social practises as well as to provide technological advance in energy supply, waste waste, transport, industry and infrastructure. While fundamentally important to the mitigation of climate change, little is written about the impact that achieving carbon reduction targets, particularly for the built environment, will have on individual and societal wellbeing and quality of life. This article investigates how a set of measures can be developed to assess wellbeing in cities, both as they are at present and as they transition to low-carbon futures. It outlines the important relationship between wellbeing, low-carbon development and the built environment. A strategy for obtaining and assessing wellbeing measures is explained, the measures are discussed and 100 selected measures are detailed. The article ends by illustrating how these measures can be integrated into a wider study of wellbein