the DSM & the U

PRESS RELEASE (10-June-09) — In collaboration with the American Psychiatric Association, the University has reach an agreement to serve as a content validating site for document mental incapacities. Because of criticisms that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Disorders (DSM) lacks empirical support in certain areas, the APA has been seeking to substantiate their classification system with field-based evidence. "We felt your university would be a rich opportunity for investigation," stated Darrell Kupfer, co-chair of the DSM-V Task Force. Dr Kupfer's group is responsible for updating the current document that serves a seminal reference document for psychiatrists worldwide.

Said Community Outreach Director Angela Sazerac, "A soon as we were approached as a potential study site, I knew we'd be crazy to turn them away." Trained participant-observers from the APA will surreptitiously visit the target facilities in the role of students and non-tenured faculty to record their interactions with university staff. As most members of the university family recall, the southside campus (now used for graduate dorms) was once the site of a residential care center. Once asylums in the region were discontinued, this valuable piece of property was acquired by the University. Thus, our connections to the mentally incompetence is a cherished part of our heritage.

Specific departments and offices at the University will be observed for the following mental disorders:

• Malingering: fabricating or exaggerating the symptoms of mental or physical disorders for a variety of motives, including getting financial compensation. (Public Relations Office and the Grant Procurement Center).
• Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD): excessive, uncontrollable and irrational worry about events disproportionate to the actual source of concern. This excessive worry often interferes with daily functioning, as individuals suffering GAD typically catastrophize, anticipate disaster, and become overly concerned about everyday matters such as health issues, money, death, family, friend, digestive and/or work difficulties. (Promotion and Tenure Committees).
• Hypersomnia: recurring episodes of excessive daytime sleepiness with compulsion to nap repeatedly during the day, often at inappropriate times such as at work, during a meal, or in conversation. (Library Services and all Administrative Offices).

"I knew we'd be crazy to turn them away" ~ A.Sazerac

• Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD): a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and inability to empathize; turning inward for gratification rather than depending on others, and excessive preoccupation with issues of personal adequacy and prestige (Tenured Faculty & Emerti Club).
• Paraphilia: powerful and persistent sexual interests in other than copulatory behavior with phenotypically normal, consenting adult human partners (Agricultural School and Division of Intramural Athletics).
  
• Dissociative Fugue: disorder characterized by reversible amnesia for personal identity, including full or partial loss of memory, personality or other key aspects of individuality. The state is usually short-lived (hours to days), but can last months or longer. Dissociative fugue usually involves travel or wandering, and is sometimes accompanied by the establishment of a new identity (Study Abroad Office and Sabbatical Coordination Center).

Due to stipulations associated with Human Subjects Research, actual dates for the start and conclusion of the site visits will not be announced.