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Five Minute Articles For Your Consideration
Is it a Symptom or a Syndrome? Psychology’s Struggle for Legitimacy
Creating an effective and accountable standard of measurements to determine the efficacy of psychotherapy is a perplexing task made even more confusing by the DSM itself. The Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is the sourcebook of diagnostic criteria for mental health professionals and the basis of all insurance reimbursement. The biggest problem with the DSM is that you can’t define a mental disorder using the manual. Continue Reading
Placebo! Much Ado About Nothing
Latin for “I shall please,” the Placebo Effect was first scientifically documented in 1955 by Dr. Henry Beecher who found that 30% of the soldiers in World War II who were unwittingly given saline solution for pain, instead of morphine, reported an analgesic effect. That is, they got something from nothing. It’s the Seinfeld of the medical world, a show about nothing that offers something very significant to everyone who watches it. Continue Reading