Mental Illness -- the tension between diagnosis and treatment

Sally Satel has a very illuminating, non-polemical op-ed in The New York Times today.

Taking off on the revision of the DSM by a DSM-V due to come out in five years, she notes that we still know very little about the causes of mental illness.

She points out that a lot of treatment is directed at the symptom rather than an certain underlying condition.

If you think about the role of mental illness in our society -- and who does not? -- this is a very thought provoking little essay.