Psychiatrists want to make grief an illness

The NY Times reports that grieving the loss of a friend, family or loved one may soon be considered a form of depression. The American Psychiatric Association is proposing that grief be classified as a type of depression, and reported as such in the standard reference work in the field, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM.

This change would be good for doctors, some insurance plans which cover treatment of mental illness would now pay for treatment of grief, doctors could prescribe psychoactive drugs for it, and people who work in fields requiring sanity could suddenly find that it was harder or impossible to get a security clearance, job working with children, gun permit, visa into some countries, etc.

Proponents claim that it would result in better care for those debilitated by grief, which should be covered by the current symptoms of depression, sleep loss, loss of concentration, inability to handle self care, pay their bills, or continue to work effectively. It's hard to tell if this would improve the health of the patient or that of the doctor's bank account.

How many times do we see some violent criminal described as "cold and heartless, never showed any emotions?" I am more likely to question the normalcy of someone who doesn't feel grief than someone who does. Let's not stigmatize people with normal grief, whether from greed or the belief that normal human emotions need to be "treated," it's a bad idea.

Revisions to the DSM are also being discussed which would narrow the definition of autism, which in some cases would result in loss of insurance coverage for treatment. Proponents say that children "just at an awkward stage" should not be labeled autistic.

Followup: there is a really detailed article on this in Health+Fitness, as well as a overview article on inquisitr.com. There is an article in the NY Times, and AP coverage was carried in many local papers, some with comments from local physicians. Feel free to report other good links in comments.