The problem with psychiatry...

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...is that diagnosis needs to be based on observations of behavior, but it cannot properly determine the mental state of the patient. This means that some people with different mental states, but the same behavior, will fall under the same diagnosis. As mental state is the most important factor for treatment the mental state of those with the condition needs to be hypothesized, but it's probably going to be somewhat inaccurate as mental state of another cannot be directly observed. While the doctor who invented the diagnosis knows what he is looking for, other people do not, so he needs to create some criteria for the diagnosis to describe the patterns he sees. This may be miscommunicated and the diagnosis may unintentionally expand to people who would not be diagnosed by the father of the diagnosis. This leads to the final part, the problem with self diagnosis, is that people know their own metal state, but they cannot turn it into something concrete as they cannot compare it to other people's mental states. People are also not the best at observing their own behaviors. Because diagnosis criteria is meant to be used to diagnose other people someone is more likely to misinterpret the criteria while self diagnosing then when diagnosing someone else.

I think these are valid points, and there's much confusion around them.

You can't observe every characteristic behaviors of a given person under scrutiny due to time and place limitations . Diagnostic categories are often too vague and subject to different interpretations even among professionals. For me the smallest of these problems seem to be self-diagnosing. If a self-diagnosing person is careful, their observation can even be better in comparison to a professional's. However, this does not mean a self-dx is always more accurate than a professional one.

You are a talented writer with great ideas.

WOW!

Psychiatrists depend largely on what the patient tells them in order to make a diagnosis. This is true of any mental health issue. They ask their questions and tick boxes to diagnose someone. Then they hand out some pills. With Aspergers it is tricky for them if trying to diagnose an adult so in the UK they just don't bother. I think self diagnosis is ok if the person doing it is prepared to learn about all mental health issues and rule each one out before reaching the diagnosis.

Virtually every diagnosis in the DSM requires, in addition to meeting behavioral criteria, "significant impairment" in daily living. Treatment DOES NOT depend on the "mental state" of the person being treated. Psychiatric illnesses are treated to improve functioning and quality of life, as mental illnesses are assumed to go into remission but not to be "curable." (I disagree, as do many other people who have studied psychology. I believe many are self-limiting, but it still makes sense to treat only to improve function.)

You are exactly right. That's why neuroscience is the key to helping psychiatry become less of an inexact pseudo-science.