ABSTRACT
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) names putative “mental disorders” and describes how mental health professionals can “diagnose” patients mental disorders based on what are called symptom pictures. It is silent on the causes of the “mental disorders” it names, and it is silent on how to treat the mental disorders it names. The unstated premise is that each “symptom picture” is an accurate description of a real thing and somehow amounts to that real thing. Mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress in social, occupational, or other important activities. The DSM is a holiday catalogue for mental health professionals and not a manual of instruction. A genuine mental health manual would present various hypotheses about the sources of emotional distress. Part of the vital enterprise of rethinking mental health involves thinking through how mental health professionals might move from mere catalogue to actual manual.
