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Related Experiment Videos

Harmful dysfunction, disorder, disease, illness, and evolution.

D F Klein1

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA. donaldk737@aol.com

Journal of Abnormal Psychology
|August 31, 1999
PubMed
Summary
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Psychiatric disorders can be viewed as "harmful dysfunctions," integrating biological and social factors. This framework clarifies disorder, refutes claims of arbitrariness, and guides research investment in therapeutics.

Area of Science:

  • Psychiatry
  • Philosophy of Medicine
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • The concept of psychiatric disorders is debated, with some viewing them as
  • harmful dysfunctions
  • as defined by Wakefield.
  • Critiques question the ability to determine biological function and the objectivity of dysfunction.
  • Existing frameworks of disease, illness, and the sick role are relevant to this discussion.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the validity and implications of conceptualizing psychiatric disorders as
  • harmful dysfunctions.
  • To address critiques regarding the determination of biological function and the evaluative nature of dysfunction.
  • To explore the role of categorization, normality, and deviance in psychiatric nosology.

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Main Methods:

  • Conceptual analysis integrating Wakefield's
  • harmful dysfunction
  • model with theories of disease, illness, and evolution.
  • Examination of arguments by Lilienfeld & Marino concerning biological function.
  • Analysis of categorization principles (monothetic, polythetic) and the concept of normality in nosology.

Main Results:

  • The
  • harmful dysfunction
  • model is supported by emphasizing involuntary impairment of evolved functions.
  • Critiques regarding the determination of biological function and the evaluative nature of dysfunction are refuted.
  • The equivalence of deviance and illness is disproven, clarifying nosological distinctions.

Conclusions:

  • Psychiatric disorders can be meaningfully conceptualized as
  • harmful dysfunctions
  • ,
  • a framework that is neither arbitrary nor solely evaluative.
  • This conceptual resolution has practical implications for prioritizing research and therapeutic development.