I am a huge fan of taking mental health beyond the checklists so I was really excited to hear about this headline when my husband told me. One reason I did not pursue graduate work in my mental health undergrad degree was because I became disillusioned with the whole set up of the field.
I believe we are doing a huge disservice to patients to continue to practice medicine on the mental health side of things in the same way as we have for over a century. Other than disorders falling in and out of socio-political favor, the practice has changed little. I think it's time mental health joined us in the age of technology and science and left the imprecise checklist based system behind. I have so much enjoyed finding those on the cutting edge of this change to work with my family's needs and I would be thrilled to see an industry-wide shift. I applaud the NIMH for coming out with this statement.
