DSM

[den4]

This article, taken from Time magazine, talks about how people get labeled in the US, and usually from folks that are non-experts in the field, particularly insurance companies....

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101030120-4073 37,00.html

Curious how things are done In J-land, since I've never dealt with such things when I was over there....
From watching the news, however, I believe in the mental health areas, Japan is a little behind the US. Case in point, those people that hoard garbage into their homes and properties are considered to be folks with severe case of OCD (Obsessional Compulsive Disorders), while in Japan, it's relegated to a harmless ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) issue. From what I've seen in the news media, it seems a lot of pshrinks either refuse to acknowledge that the sufferers have a short circuit in their brains that cause them to behave in such bizarre fashions, and believe it is something that can be cured with just having people come in and clean up the mess....then the news media come back months later and can't figure out why the sufferers still can't get their act together and still end up hoarding garbage again.....the FNN news (that I can watch in the US) has done special news items on such people....which makes me curious how the medical fields in mental health really determine what a person is suffering, or if they even have a clue what they are diagnosing?

[Taro Toporific]

Case in point, those people that hoard garbage into their homes and properties are considered to be folks with severe case of OCD (Obsessional Compulsive Disorders), while in Japan....can't figure out why the sufferers still can't get their act together and still end up hoarding garbage again.....

Actually, my favorite Japanese TV show on Thurdays nights at 7pm (Ch 8?) is "LET'S CLEAN UP THIS CRAZY PERSON'S TRASH-DUMP HOUSE". Every week, they go to different house (often located on land worth millions of dollars) and the garbage is flowing out of the 2nd story windows and into the streets. No one seem to care enough to throw a bag over the crazy obaaasan and clean out the place...let alone think about treating the poor lady.

Such trash-dump places exist in Tokyo for 20-30 years until the sick wacko dies. NOBODY ever thinks that this is a treatable problem---often a simple one. Sheesh.