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Letters to the EditorFull Access

Proposed Diagnosis

Published Online:21 Jan 2005https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.40.2.00400056a

I would like to suggest a new diagnostic entity for DSM-V. The diagnosis is “the human condition.” Diagnostic criteria would be any combination of the following:

For children: (1) distractability, (2) being fidgety, (3) disobedience, (4) disliking school. For adults: (1) unhappiness, (2) nervousness, (3) shyness, (4) dissatisfaction with one's looks, (5) dissatisfaction with one's sexual performance, (6) getting angry, (7) playing the horses, (8) getting upset when things go wrong, (9) preferring one's own company, (10) showing off, and (11) orderliness.

The advantages of this diagnosis are that it would facilitate insurance reimbursement, dispose of the bothersome problem of comorbidity, and encourage the quest for a drug to cure the disorder of being human.

Washington, D.C.