Speaking DSM
So I’m listening to “This American Life” and they make mention of some upcoming revisions to the DSM that bring to surface a question I had a long time ago that never got answered.
Apparently, the DSM is going to officially strike reference of the term “mental retardation,” the argument being that it’s an offensive term, in favor of “intellectual disability.” Now, I’m hoping some of you psych people out there on my friends list chime in on this because I’m really confused.
Retard (v.) means to suppress, or slow progress and development. On its own the word doesn’t really provide insight into degree or severity, but it does by definition hint at some sort of scale. Disability, on the other hand, is a very discrete term. It’s binary. Something, or someone, is abled or disabled. There’s no grey there. In terms of mental aptitude and ability, then, it seems to me like the offensiveness in these terms is flipped. It seems more proper and less harmful to use the term that gauges across a scale. Peoples’ cognitive abilities are graded, it’s not like a brain is just on or off.
So is this just a case of societal trends and evolved connotations totally running contrary to literal meanings? Shouldn’t the DSM be striving to maintain a clinical perspective on these things, or am I just thinking too much about random stuff I hear on This American Life?
By the way, the rest of this particular episode of This American Life is really incredible, and if you haven’t already you should check it out.