In 1840......the Census of the United States....offered one and only one category for mental disorders.
In 1917, there were 59 different categories for mental disorders.
In 1959, there 128 categories for mental disorders.
In 1980, there were 227 categories for mental disorders.
In 2012, there are 347 recognized categories for mental disorders.
My humble guess is that we will hit 500 mental disorder categories sometime between 2020 and 2025.
There are two ways of looking at these numbers. Either we are getting crazier, year by year.....or some smart guys are getting around to classifying just about anything you do.....as crazy or a disorder.
Eventually, there will be a disorder for guys who continually back-up their data on a daily basis, guys who are addicted to biscuits and gravy each morning, women who wear tube tops on a daily basis, kids who obsessively wear one color of clothing to school, folks who can only drive automatics (can't handle shifting), and engineers who refuse to use programming software that was made after 1986.
The sad thing is that we might all have forty-four different mental disorders....and not even realize it. Or care that we have mental disorders.
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