The fifth edition of the psychiatrists’ bible—the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)— is coming out this month. The changes involve minor tweaking of terms and definitions that have always been rather elusive and malleable… pertaining to the diagnosis of mental disorders—depression, autism, bipolar, and so on.
Read more about the DSM updates….
One complaint about the DSM has always been that disorders have been defined more by consensus among psychiatrists than by objective measurement of symptoms under laboratory conditions.
So… many people—patients as well as health professionals—yearn for a new and transformative DSM that would get more to the neurological, chemical and biological bedrock of symptoms and causes of mental disorders.
With that in mind, this is an excellent opportunity to begin to introduce spiritual influences into psychology and psychiatry—specifically, the presence of many invisible spirits flourishing among us physical humans and their effects on our thoughts and feelings.
Read more about those spiritual influences….
It’s just a matter of time before spiritual realities are tossed into the omelet we call modern science, and this could be an opportunity to start cracking the egg.
Other articles about science and the human spirit:
The material mind skews logic to explain consciousness — Science and NDEs — More modern-day epicycles — Foreign-accent syndrome — Measuring maya — Asteroids pummeled Earth for 2 billion years — Exoplanets and the prospect we’re not alone! — Combat killing and the human spirit — Noxious capitalism and the human spirit — Aurora theater tragedy — News in perspective — Pfrankenstein’s monster: big pharma — Preventing that pesky apocalyse — Updating the Therapists’ DSM Bible
Noble Savage World 
Hi Mark,
This is a very interesting train of thought. I’m a mental health professional myself and was eager to hear all about supposed drastic new changes to the DSM-V. I agree that the conclusions of each diagnosis are typically based on discussions that come from a think tank of psychiatrists and other various mental health professionals without conclusive evidence from studies that provide quantitative and qualitative results.
I believe that all of our brains are wired very differently compared to the person standing in front of us in line at the grocery store, for example. It is difficult to categorize a mass amount of individuals into one strict category such as Asperger’s, Bipolar Disorder, etc. that has very specific symptoms. Typically, when diagnosing an individual, he/she must meet certain criteria for that specific diagnosis. On average, the individual usually needs to meet at least six of the listed symptoms in order to be diagnosed. In today’s world, many people are desperate for a diagnosis in order to be prescribed a “quick fix” (medication) to find a solution to problems that have been building for a lifetime. Mental health professionals are quick to give diagnoses in order to get insurance companies involved in the the process as well. It is a win/win situation for both the mental health professional and the client/patient.
I digress! I find the spiritual piece of mental health diagnoses to be quite fascinating and this opens a door to many, many possibilities. Perhaps when we say, “I’m not feeling like myself today”, maybe this is true in a sense? I have read all of your books and I’m currently reading The Project. I must say that Spirit Faces has been my favorite thus far! I was wondering if you will ever return to New York for a Spirit Faces seminar in the near future? 🙂
Thanks for your consistent insight, Mark. I always enjoy reading your thoughts and ideas when it comes to spirituality. Keep doing what you’re doing!
Karen
Hi Karen,
Thanks for the great comment… and sorry it took awhile for me to post it. I didn’t get the usual “Pending Comment” alert on my blog’s dashboard that I usually do.
Anyway, now that you’ve been approved, any future comments you make will be posted immediately. Thanks for your patience! 🙂
The title of my post may be a bit misleading, suggesting big changes to the latest DSM. I was referring to the big changes that I wish would be made in a future edition… even if only an appendix of frontier or “fringe” ideas that many people (such as myself) believe to be important to mental health. In this case, the presence of spirits impinging on our world and on our lives.
I like (a lot) your lucid and concise explanation of the current state of psychiatry–the working together of mental health professionals, insurance companies, and clients (not to mention the pharmaceutical companies!) in a sort of win/win situation for everyone. I think the win/win will be many times richer and more rewarding once our spiritual nature is added to the mix! Would love to see that in my lifetime… but I, too, digress… and probably dream….
I’m delighted that you like “Spirit Faces.” Being an introvert (there’s another recent book out called “Quiet” about introverts, by author Susan Cain), I’ve never enjoyed public presentations… even while giving hundreds of them at conferences, seminars, and workshops. Never got to the point of being comfortable in a crowd… especially as the focus of attention! 🙂 Also, when Polaroid quit making their 600 film, the spirit face phenomena came to an end. Digital and 35mm cameras didn’t capture the spirit faces with the same consistency as Polaroid film, for some reason. So… no, I doubt if I’ll be coming to NY to give seminars. Fact is, I decided last year to quit giving public presentations and interviews (except maybe in rare circumstances)… in order to devote more attention to my writing.
Getting back to mental health and spiritual influences for a moment, how open would professionals like you be in terms of a new technique that would immediately remove spirit influences from a client? It involves a series of mild shocks along the spine… mild in comparison with electroshock therapy. You see, I believe that the stabilizing effect of electroshock therapy to many patients is not so much the result of changes to their neurochemistry, but of the instant release of attached spirits. Spirits attached to a carnal body feel intense pain when the body is subjected to electric shock, and they typically bolt out… at least for awhile. A technique that involves a series of shocks to the spine, I believe, would be as effective as, and far less excruciating to the client than electroshock therapy.
Well, thanks again for your good comments,
Mark
Hi Mark,
Sorry for the delayed response and I believe I may have originally posted twice by accident before – oops! Thank you for your reply! 🙂
There is definitely a multi-systemic approach that is left out of the DSM. I myself was trained as a marriage and family therapist but I currently work in behavioral health. I am lucky for the training that I received because I was taught to provide therapy by looking through “multiple lenses” (for example, how are the client’s present issues being affected by family [past and present], peers, co-workers, culture, daily interactions, etc.?) and actually, this is very ironic, because there was the debate of adding spirituality into the mix because this was very overlooked when I was training to become a therapist.
I would definitely consider myself an introvert as well. I very much agree with you and see where you are coming from. The book recommendation sounds excellent! I prefer to observe and listen rather than talk. In my career, I have been forced into the limelight to become an extrovert since I must participate in presentations in discussions where I am forced to speak but I have to admit it has been a great learning lesson. I still have the feelings that you do when it comes to presenting before an audience!
Electroshock therapy is very interesting and was recently used up until about the 1960’s, I believe. Your thoughts are very interesting when it comes to spirits attaching themselves to the body. I cannot speak so much for the psychiatry field, but in the therapy world, I think that the general consensus would be that during the therapy process, the therapist can ask the client to speak on behalf of the spirit. One form of therapy requires the client to speak from his/her “parts” since multiple parts make us up as humans. We have angry parts, parts representing our child-like selves, anxious parts, etc. So perhaps the therapist can ask the client to speak on behalf of his/her spiritual or spirit part? If you would like to read into this further, I highly recommend reading Richard Schwartz’s “Introduction to the Internal Family Systems Model.” It’s a very quick read.
Thanks again for your response and I look forward to your future postings!
Karen
Thanks, Karen, for that glimpse into modern therapy, especially the concept of “parts” relatable to attached spirits.
I look forward to reading Richard Schwartz’s book (just ordered it online).
Mark