Another New Medical Diagnosis - SSD

This is probably one of the most disturbing articles I’ve read in a long time!  So in case you haven’t heard, therapists now have a new “mental illness” with which you can be diagnosed – Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD).  I’ve just learned that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) set the standard on classifying mental disorders and have now added this new “disorder.” 

As I understand SSD, a diagnosis can be made when a patient has:

1.  unbalanced thoughts about the seriousness of their symptoms

2.  a high level of nervousness about their health or symptoms

3.  devoted too much time and energy regarding their ill health.

So an office worker who has access to a restroom might have anxiety for six months about diarrhea and a trucker might take this even more seriously due to the lack of access to a restroom.  Both could be diagnosed with SSD.  A mental disorder diagnosis could occur because their physician, even though they had six months to find a cause and successfully treat this problem, did not.   Maybe the physician should have the new diagnosis!

Sounds like all Lyme patients would, more than likely, fall into this category as most need to beg their doctors to find the cause of their health malady and not usually just for six months, it can go on for years!

Is there something wrong with this picture??? YES!!!

Your Physical Illness May Now Be Labeled a Mental Disorder