Found via Unspeak, from a draft proposal to the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association: nicotine use disorder:
A maladaptive pattern of substance use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by 2 (or more) of the following, occurring within a 12-month period
Which is followed by a list of supposed symptoms of this, including gems like “Craving or a strong desire or urge to use a specific substance” and “there is a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control substance use”. All the symptoms are on this “well, duh” level or generic to any sort of addiction, as if the proponents of this addition have just cut and pasted a list of symptoms in under various headers, as indeed somebody has.
Does it matter, this reclassifying of various addictions as “disorders”? I think so, as it’s both offensive and misleading to suggest that somebody who is addicted to cigarettes, booze or drugs is immediately suffering from a disorder. You may have problems, sure, but are they psychiatric problems? Or do you just, engage in behaviour psychiatrists have labeled as such, like homosexuality used to be until surprisingly recent? Attempting to solve such “disorders” with psychiatric methods is liable to cause more damage than do good, while the medicalisation of societal problems does nothing to address their root causes. You can’t solve everything with a little blue pill.
Branko Collin
February 17, 2010 at 11:22 amI am guessing a psychiatric disorder is one that not many people suffer from. Once nicotine addiction, believing in Yahweh, cognitive dissonance or stereoscopic vision become mainstream enough, they stop being disorders.
Having said that, I doubt scientists think that way (or not much at least), and to me this paper sounds more like an attempt to declassify nicotine as a drug. After all, drugs are icky and their users criminals.
palau
February 18, 2010 at 5:19 amMy mother always used to say it was smoking kept me alive, as it was my motivation to get out of bed and walk. I agree.
But a few weeks ago the CEO of the hospital I’m still (unfortunately) in decided he didn’t want the remaining two smoking rooms (which had specialised smoke removal equipment fitted only a couple of months ago at who knows what cost) or those disgusting mentally disordered smokers in *his* hospital, so he shut them down with no notice and no explanation to patients or staff in the middle of winter with subzero temps and snow on the ground.
All that’s left now are two open shelters, one about 20 square feet with one small hard wooden bench, in front of the hospital and accessible only till 9pm, and one even smaller at the back, accessible only through two very heavy doors, which are locked at 6pm have no seats and need a staff pass.
All other open areas are banned to smokers and the staff are no longer allowed to take you to the smoking area, so if you can’t manoeuvre a wheelchair you’re shit out of luck. Even if you can you risk pneumonia, because there’s no room and you have to stand (if you can) in the cold.
Staff and patients alike are fuming (or would be if they could).
But whether or not I smoke’s my decision though of course I’m willing to observe limits. But how dare some non-medical overpaid bureaucrat make that decision for me, based on his personal whim?
Now there’s this attempt to mentally disorderize smoking, which is hilarious when you see how many nurses and doctors are out there in the cold sneaking a quick one. Maybe we can do the same for the staff addiction to hospital coffee or to whisky, or to driving a car, all of which smells I find offensive and the latter two of which are as dangerous as smoking if not more.
The really annoying thing is that the hospital shop sells bottles of wine and cans of beer, so you can get drunk as as a skunk no matter what medication you’re on or what illness you have; but you can’t have a cigarette indoors in a specialised smoking room, because the boss doesn’t like it. Prick.
(PS Martin, was this bait for me to start commenting again? I think so…)
Martin Wisse
February 18, 2010 at 6:10 amMight be…