Solivagant
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I learned about something called Post-Traumatic Embitterment Disorder last night. It is not yet a disorder, but a proposed disorder.
What do you think of this kind of bitterness becoming a disorder?
I don't deny that bitterness can affect people in this way, I've experienced it first-hand. But I'm concerned that assigning it the label of "disorder" could add to the perception of helplessness these people have, and end up enabling them to stay bitter rather than seek change. I could see the attitude becoming something like "I can't help but be bitter and angry towards <insert person or group>, I've got a disorder." I'm concerned that it could be used (at least in the person's mind) as a justification for words or actions taken against other people. Or even at some point as a legal defense: "I killed that person out of revenge, but I've got Post-Traumatic Embitterment Disorder, so lighter sentence." I could see someone like Elliot Rodger using that.
I'm very much a proponent of mental health awareness, but I also tend to be very wary when new disorders are proposed. Sometimes I think they are taken too far, like we're starting to call any aspect of a person that's not ideal a "disorder".
Thoughts?
'Posttraumatic embitterment disorder (PTED) is a proposed disorder modeled after posttraumatic stress disorder. Some psychiatrists are proposing this as a mental disorder because they believe there are people who have become so bitter they can barely function. PTED patients do not fit the formal criteria for PTSD and can be clinically distinguished from it, prompting the description of a new and separate disorder.
German psychiatrist Michael Linden, who has conducted research on the proposed disorder, describes its effect on people: "They feel the world has treated them unfairly. It's one step more complex than anger. They're angry plus helpless." He says that people with the disorder are almost treatment resistant and that; "These people usually don't come to treatment because 'the world has to change, not me.'" He believes that 1 to 2 percent of people are affected at any given time, and explains that, although sufferers of the disorder tend to have a desire for vengeance, "...Revenge is not a treatment."
PTED so far has no official status and is not listed in the DSM-IV-TR or ICD-10-CM.'
What do you think of this kind of bitterness becoming a disorder?
I don't deny that bitterness can affect people in this way, I've experienced it first-hand. But I'm concerned that assigning it the label of "disorder" could add to the perception of helplessness these people have, and end up enabling them to stay bitter rather than seek change. I could see the attitude becoming something like "I can't help but be bitter and angry towards <insert person or group>, I've got a disorder." I'm concerned that it could be used (at least in the person's mind) as a justification for words or actions taken against other people. Or even at some point as a legal defense: "I killed that person out of revenge, but I've got Post-Traumatic Embitterment Disorder, so lighter sentence." I could see someone like Elliot Rodger using that.
I'm very much a proponent of mental health awareness, but I also tend to be very wary when new disorders are proposed. Sometimes I think they are taken too far, like we're starting to call any aspect of a person that's not ideal a "disorder".
Thoughts?