Obamacare may soon be inundated with more sick people on its rolls, according to the New York Times. Psychiatrists and other specialists in the field are rewriting the manual that defines mental illnesses and have decided to revise the definition of addiction. This revision could have far-reaching consequences, including millions more people being diagnosed with addictions, resulting in massive increases in costs for health insurers and taxpayers.
The revision to the manual, known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or D.S.M., would expand the list of recognized symptoms for drug and alcohol addiction, while also reducing the number of symptoms required for a diagnosis, according to proposed changes posted on the Web site of the American Psychiatric Association, which produces the book.
In addition, the manual for the first time would include gambling as an addiction, and it might introduce a catchall category — "behavioral addiction — not otherwise specified" — that some public health experts warn would be too readily used by doctors, despite a dearth of research, to diagnose addictions to shopping, sex, using the Internet or playing video games.
Some in the medical community doubt the wisdom of the rewrite:
Dr. Frances has been one of the most outspoken critics of the new draft version, saying that overly broad and vaguely worded definitions will create more "false epidemics" and "medicalization of everyday behavior." Like some others, he has also questioned whether a private association, whose members stand to gain from treating more patients, should be writing the manual, rather than an independent group or a federal agency.