Psychiatry - Theses

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    Semantic change in psychiatric categories: the case of DSM-III
    CIESIELSKI, SARA ( 2007)
    Psychiatric terminology has undergone a number of significant shifts over time. These have reflected broader social circumstances surrounding mental illness. One of the biggest upheavals was publication of the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) in 1980, which created a strictly defined categorical system of diagnostic labels. A framework from historical sociolinguistics, proposed by Weinreich, Labov and Herzog (1968), has been used to investigate this change. Three terms were analysed in detail – Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder and Panic Disorder – and were found to have very different histories leading up to DSM-III. The Weinreich et al. framework is evaluated for its utility in this type of complex semantic change, and is found to be effective with some minor modifications. Broader effects of language on shaping perceptions of mental illness are also briefly sketched.