A universally accepted operational definition for the term “disease” is not yet established in contemporary psychiatry. In clinical psychology and psychiatry, disease has been used indiscriminately. The term disease has been invoked (even when no systemic etiology or pathology has existed) to describe addictions, a cluster of bizarre symptoms, and to justify crude medically based treatments (e.g., electroshock, lobotomy, involuntary commitment, medication prescription). More recently, sophisticated machines such as CAT scans, PET scans, and MRIs have been used for questionable research conducted to try to identify supposed diseases, to justify the overuse of psychotropic drugs. Economic and industry interests have superseded scientific concerns. To establish scientific rigor in psychiatry and clinical psychology research, an operational definition of disease is proposed.
Peer Review #2 of "Regression assumptions in clinical psychology research practice—a systematic review of common misconceptions (v0.1)"
