The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM) provides clinicians and mental health practitioners with guidelines for the diagnosis of mental health disorders. The DSM offers categories of mental health problems based on clusters of co-occurring symptoms and suggests the salient criteria that must be fulfilled in order for a diagnosis to be endorsed. Importantly, the DSM is adopted throughout the world as a standard for mental health professionals. It promotes better communication and consistency of treatment between different professionals who are dealing with the same client. Szasz (1976) argued that such attempts to provide diagnostic categories for mental health issues are tantamount to 'witch hunts'. Szasz suggests that the classification of "problems of living" into mental health diagnoses enables the majority groups in society to dominate, control, and suppress individuals who are on the fringe or who do not "fit". Many argue that the guidelines unnecessarily stigmatize individuals, highlighting overly biased criteria and a lack of acknowledgment of the importance of social factors as precursors to mental health problems.
What are the pros and cons of standardizing diagnostic categories of mental health disorders? What are the alternatives?