In search of 'non-disease'

摘要

The BMJ conducted a survey on the web to identify "non-diseases"-and found almost 200. The notion of "disease" is a slippery one and the concept of non-disease is therefore similarly blurred. Health is equally impossible to define. To have your condition labelled as a disease may bring considerable benefit-both material (financial) and emotional. However, the diagnosis of a disease may also create problems-you may be denied insurance, a mortgage, and employment. A diagnosis may also lead you to regard yourself as forever flawed and unable to "rise above" your problem.