Diagnoses: More Harm Than Good? With Dr. Stu Law pt. 1

2026-08-26

Why We Do What We Do

0:00

1:11:18

Diagnosing mental health has dramatically shaped how we think about and appraoch our thinking and treatment of mental health conditions. In some ways, this effect has had a profoundly helpful impact for many people. However, in many ways, this system has had a profoundly adverse impact. This episode kicks of a three-part series arguing that diagnoses for mental health have ultimately caused more harm than good. Dr. Stu Law is a special guest helping us understand what we gain and lose in the current system of diagnostic criteria used for taxonomizing mental health.

Recommendations

Abraham: Within by Protest the Hero (https://protestthehero.bandcamp.com/album/within)
Shane: Akai MPK Mini MK3 MIDI Board (https://www.akaipro.com/mpk-mini-mk3/)
Stu: Learning Process Based Therapy, The Anatomy of an Epidemic, Beyond the DSM, The Emperor’s New Drugs

Holidays (8/26/2026):

Congressional Startup Day
Make Your Own Luck Day
Musical Yoga Day
National Cherry Popsicle Day
National Dog Day
National Toilet Paper Day
Tug of War Day
Willing to Lend a Hand Wednesday
Women’s Equality Day
Be Kind to Humankind Week
Brake Safety Week
National Safe at Home Week
World Water Week

References:

Barlow, D. H., & Nock, M. K. (2009). Why can’t we be more idiographic in our research? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 4(1), 19–21.
Beck, A. T., & Alford, B. A. (2009). Depression: Causes and treatment. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Beck, A. T., Davis, D. D., & Freeman, A. (Eds.). (2015). Cognitive therapy of personality disorders. Guilford Publications.
Beck, A. T., Emery, G., & Greenberg, R. L. (2005). Anxiety disorders and phobias: A cognitive perspective. Basic Books.
Beltz, A. M., & Gates, K. M. (2017). Network mapping with GIMME. Multivariate behavioral research, 52(6), 789-804.
Birkhoff, G. D. (1931). Proof of the ergodic theorem. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 17, 656-660.
Brown, T. A., Campbell, L. A., Lehman, C. L., Grisham, J. R., & Mancill, R. B. (2001). Current and lifetime comorbidity of the DSM-IV anxiety and mood disorders in a large clinical sample. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110(4), 585–599. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.110.4.585
Clark, L. A., Watson, D., & Reynolds, S. (1995). Diagnosis and classification of psychopathology: Challenges to the current system and future directions. Annual Review of Psychology, 46, 121–153. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ps.46.020195.001005
Fried, E. I. (2015). Problematic assumptions have slowed down depression research: why symptoms, not syndromes are the way forward. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 309.
Fried, E. I., & Cramer, A. O. (2017). Moving forward: challenges and directions for psychopathological network theory and methodology. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(6), 999-1020.
Galizio, A., Frye, C. C., Haynes, J. M., Friedel, J. E., Smith, B. M., & Odum, A. L. (2018). Persistence and relapse of reinforced behavioral variability. Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 109(1), 210-237.
Galatzer-Levy, I. R., & Bryant, R. A. (2013). 636,120 Ways to Have Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8(6), 651-662.
Glick, I. D., Murray, S. R., Vasudevan, P., Marder, S. R., & Hu, R. J. (2001). Treatment with atypical antipsychotics: New indications and new populations. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 35(3), 187–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3956(01)00020-6.
Hayes, S. C., Wilson, K. W., Gifford, E. V., Follette, V. M., & Strosahl, K. (1996). Experiential avoidance and behavioral disorders: A functional dimensional approach to diagnosis and treatment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64(6), 1152-1168.
Hofmann, S. G., Curtiss, J., & McNally, R. J. (2016). A complex network perspective on clinical science. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11(5), 597-605.
Hofmann, S. G., & Hayes, S. C. (2019). The future of intervention science: Process-based therapy. Clinical Psychological Science, 7(1), 37-50.
Hofmann, S. G., Meuret, A. E., Rosenfield, D., Suvak, M. K., Barlow, D. H., Gorman, J. M., ... & Woods, S. W. (2007). Preliminary evidence for cognitive mediation during cognitive-behavioral therapy of panic disorder. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 75(3), 374.
Kessler, R. C., Chiu, W. T., Demler, O., Merikangas, K. R., & Walters, E. E. (2005). Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of 12-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(6), 617–627. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.62.6.617.
Newman, C. F., Leahy, R. L., Beck, A. T., Reilly-Harrington, N. A., & Gyulai, L. (2002). Bipolar disorder: A cognitive therapy approach. American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10442-000.
Lenzenweger, M. F., Lane, M. C., Loranger, A. W., & Kessler, R. C. (2007). DSM-IV personality disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Biological Psychiatry, 62(6), 553–564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.09.019
Molenaar, P. C. (2004). A manifesto on psychology as idiographic science: Bringing the person back into scientific psychology, this time forever. Measurement, 2(4), 201-218.
Molenaar, P. C., & Campbell, C. G. (2009). The new person-specific paradigm in psychology. Current directions in psychological science, 18(2), 112-117.
Meehl, P. E. (1978). Theoretical risks and tabular asterisks: Sir Karl, Sir Ronald, and the slow progress of soft psychology. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46(4), 806–834.
McNally, R. J. (2012). The ontology of posttraumatic stress disorder: Natural kind, social construction, or causal system? Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 19, 220–228.
Piccirillo, M. L., & Rodebaugh, T. L. (2019). Foundations of idiographic methods in psychology and applications for psychotherapy. Clinical psychology review.
Popa, A., & McDowell, J. J. (2016). Behavioral variability in an evolutionary theory of behavior dynamics. Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 105(2), 270-290.
Sidman, M. (1952). A note on functional relations obtained from group data. Psychological Bulletin, 49(3), 263
Volkovysskii, R. L. & Sinai, Y. G. (1971). Ergodic properties of an ideal gas with an infinite number of degrees of freedom. Functional Analysis and Its Applications (Funktsional'nyi Analiz i Ego Prilozheniya), 5(3), 185-185.