Proposed revisions for the upcoming Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV), the de facto Bible of the psychiatric community, will redefine addiction in such a way that countless more people will qualify for a diagnosis. Under the new guidelines, for example, "people who often drink more than intended and crave alcohol may be considered mild addicts.” In the past, people had to engage in more extreme behavior like missing work or drunk driving or killing and eating local electricians before receiving an addiction diagnosis.
On the one hand, this is good news for the aforementioned “mild addicts,” who would be able to get treatment (whether absolutely necessary or not) and yummy, yummy pharmaceuticals. On the other hand, though, if doing something “more than intended” and “craving” are signs of an addiction disorder, who isn’t an addict? I myself am addicted to any number of things from sleep to White Castle hamburgers.
Maybe I can qualify for disability?
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You may have noticed that I haven’t yet wished MOS a happy Mother’s Day. I figure I’ve already given her the greatest gift any mother could want--Me!--so any further well-wishing would be the height of superfluity. But to WOS and all those other Moms out in Solipsist Nation, let me wish you a joyous day.
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