On the natural incompleteness of terms, euphemisms and psychiatric nomenclature

Abstract

The article examines the classification of terms denoting psychopathological phenomena in diagnostic criteria of the operational ICD from the perspectives of epistemology and general terminology. The conclusion is that the terms featured in the diagnostic criteria are not scientific terminology, but rather nomenclature lists. Using the example of substituting traditional psychiatric terminology with euphemisms, this study demonstrates the manipulative impact of classifications on the consciousness of both professionals and society as a whole, resulting in the “psychologization” of psychiatry. The psychiatric symptom was found to be a diminished semiotic system, reduced to the simplistic idea of “object — label”. The diagnostic work of the physician has lost its meaning.