Why Mental Illness Diagnoses Are Wrong: A Pilot Study on the Perspectives of the Public

Yi-Sheng Chao; Chao-Jung Wu; Yi-Chun Lai; Hui-Ting Hsu; Yen-Po Cheng; Hsing-Chien Wu; Shih-Yu Huang; Wei-Chih Chen

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.860487

Why Mental Illness Diagnoses Are Wrong: A Pilot Study on the Perspectives of the Public

Front Psychiatry. 2022 Apr 29:13:860487. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.860487. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Yi-Sheng Chao¹, Chao-Jung Wu², Yi-Chun Lai³, Hui-Ting Hsu⁴, Yen-Po Cheng⁴, Hsing-Chien Wu⁵, Shih-Yu Huang^{6

7}, Wei-Chih Chen^{8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Independent Researcher, Montreal, QC, Canada.
² Département d'Informatique, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
³ National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University Hospital, Yilan, Taiwan.
⁴ Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan.
⁵ National Taiwan University Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Anesthesiology, Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical University, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁸ Department of Chest Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁹ Institute of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.

Abstract

Background: Mental illness diagnostic criteria are made based on assumptions. This pilot study aims to assess the public's perspectives on mental illness diagnoses and these assumptions.

Methods: An anonymous survey with 30 questions was made available online in 2021. Participants were recruited via social media, and no personal information was collected. Ten questions focused on participants' perceptions regarding mental illness diagnoses, and 20 questions related to the assumptions of mental illness diagnoses. The participants' perspectives on these assumptions held by professionals were assessed.

Results: Among 14 survey participants, 4 correctly answered the relationships of 6 symptom pairs (28.57%). Two participants could not correctly conduct the calculations involved in mood disorder diagnoses (14.29%). Eleven (78.57%) correctly indicated that 2 or more sets of criteria were available for single diagnoses of mental illnesses. Only 1 (7.14%) correctly answered that the associations between symptoms and diagnoses were supported by including symptoms in the diagnostic criteria of the diagnoses. Nine (64.29%) correctly answered that the diagnosis variances were not fully explained by their symptoms. The confidence of participants in the major depressive disorder diagnosis and the willingness to take medications for this diagnosis were the same (mean = 5.50, standard deviation [SD] = 2.31). However, the confidence of participants in the symptom-based diagnosis of non-solid brain tumor was significantly lower (mean = 1.62, SD = 2.33, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Our study found that mental illness diagnoses are wrong from the perspectives of the public because our participants did not agree with all the assumptions professionals make about mental illness diagnoses. Only a minority of our participants obtained correct answers to the calculations involved in mental illness diagnoses. In the literature, neither patients nor the public have been engaged in formulating the diagnostic criteria of mental illnesses.

Keywords: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM); International Classification of Diseases (ICD); assumption; confidence; mental illness.