How does a psychiatrist infer from an observed condition to a case of mental disorder?

Maël Lemoine (1, 2)

1 iBraiN - Imaging, Brain & Neuropsychiatry
2 IHPST - Institut d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques

The main thesis of this paper is that mental health practitioners can legitimately infer that a patient's given condition is a case of mental disorder without having diagnosed any specific mental disorder. The article shows how this is justifiable by relying either on psychopathological reasoning, on 'intentional' analysis or possibly on other modes of reasoning. In the end, it highlights the clinical and philosophical consequences of the plurality of modes of 'inferences to mental disorder'.

Mots clés: clinical reasoning; diagnosis; DSM; mental disorder; psychiatry; psychopathology

Domaines: Histoire, Philosophie et Sociologie des sciences; Psychologie et comportements; Psychiatrie et santé mentale

Maël Lemoine. How does a psychiatrist infer from an observed condition to a case of mental disorder?. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 2012, 18 (5), pp.979-83. ⟨10.1111/j.1365-2753.2012.01904.x⟩. ⟨halshs-00775358⟩