**202201310915 Diagnosing behaviour as due to disease excuses the person** #Diagnosis #Mental_Illness #policy #disease #social_constructionist **When we classify behaviour as a disease, it has powerful consequences. It excuses the person and have consequences for policies** Source: [[Chapter 1 Conceptions of Psychopathology. A Social Constructionist Perspective]] - _In speaking of the importance of the conception of disease, Reznek wrote:_ - _The classification of a condition as a disease carries many important consequences. We inform medical scientists that they should try to discover a cure for the condition. We inform benefactors that they should support such research. We direct medical care towards the condition, making it appropriate to treat the condition by medical means such as drug therapy, surgery, and so on. We inform our courts that it is inappropriate to hold people responsible for the manifestations of the condition. We set up early warning detection services aimed at detecting the condition in its early stages when it is still amenable to successful treatment. We serve notice to health insurance companies and national health services that they are liable to pay for the treatment of such a condition. Classifying a condition as a disease is no idle matter. (p. 1) 3_