Question

Explain both the pros and cons of classifying/labeling mental health disorders.

Answer 1

Pros

• Standardization- This helps in standardized diagnosis for the client. This further ensures appropriate intervention and treatments can be identified and practiced irrespective of any social division.
• Research guidance- There is always ongoing research done on the theoretical and practical basis of various mental health disorders.
• Therapeutic guidance- The labeling makes a professional outlook on mental health disorders. Only experts come and build upon the classification. This labeling is very strictly used. It is only used to study the clinical aspect of various mental health disorders which later becomes guiding information for various practitioners.

Cons

• Social stigmatization- labeling acts as a social label and stigma for the clients. People get identified as someone abnormal and different. There are cases where discrimination and ill-treatment have happened.
• Misdiagnosis and overdiagnosis- There are chances where clients might not get diagnosed appropriately and sometimes they are classified with some disorder which they might not have in reality.
• Oversimplification- many labels and classification of mental health disorders are oversimplified. It has become that phase where every normal behavior of human beings can be classified as a symptom of some disorder. People are taking it very lightly. For instance, one-day sadness, and people call themselves depressed.