Work addiction--the best-dressed mental health problem of them all
theatlantic.com
theatlantic.com
Psychologists can be relied on to pathologize beneficial behaviors, behaviors that set successful people apart from their peers. Anything that sets you apart, positively or negatively, psychologists will think of a way to call it a disease. If you're intelligent, you have Asperger's and you need help. If you're enthusiastic about your work, you're a work addict and you need help.
But there's light at the end of the tunnel -- in the midst of a firestorm of criticism over release of a new version of the mental diagnosis manual (the DSM, the "bible" of psychiatry and psychology), the director of the NIMH decided to phase it out as as having no scientific value:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/director/2013/transforming-dia...
Quote: "The strength of each of the editions of DSM has been “reliability” – each edition has ensured that clinicians use the same terms in the same ways. The weakness is its lack of validity ... Patients with mental disorders deserve better."
Obviously this won't stop psychologists from inventing more and better phony diagnoses. But it may stop the public from listening to them.