Letter to the APA on Complex Somatic Symptom Disorder (CSSD) by Mary Schweitzer

Letter to the APA on Complex Somatic Symptom Disorder (CSSD) by Mary Schweitzer

Post #33 Shortlink: http://wp.me/p5foE-2RD

Mary Schweitzer

13 April 2010

There are only a few days left to comment on the proposed new category of Complex Somatic Symptom Disorder (CSSD) for the APA’s new DSM-5. To read about the proposed new classification, go to the following website:

http://www.dsm5.org/ProposedRevisions/Pages/proposedrevision.aspx?rid=368

Instructions for comments are on the bottom of the page. You have to register, but that’s not difficult.

We have only until April 20 to leave a comment.

Many organizations connected to ME and CFS advocacy have sent testimony – all should. This could be very dangerous. To begin with, psychiatric treatment is not going to help the biomedical foundation of the disease, so the misdiagnosis would lead to maltreatment. But there are other concerns as well. If “CFS” was promoted as the psychological illness CSSD, patients would be subject to the restrictions insurance companies place on mental disorders. Most health insurance plans do not cover more than a few doctor’s visits per year for a mental illness, if they cover any at all; most disability insurance plans only cover mental illnesses for 3-5 years, if they cover them at all. This is, of course, a great injustice to those with mental illnesses. But that injustice would not be improved by adding patients with “CSSD” to the mix.

My own comments can be found here:

http://slightlyalive.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-letter-to-apa-on-cssd.html

Mary Schweitzer