The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV) definition of mental disorder states that a disorder is not "merely an expectable and culturally sanctioned response to a particular event" and that it represents a "dysfunction in the individual."1 Because adverse experiences are a part of life, and negative emotions arise as natural and adaptive responses to these experiences, much of the psychological distress that humans experience is anticipated, culturally sanctioned, and functional. Thus, sadness is not a mental disorder in the DSM.
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