Weird Psychiatry

According to this article, almost 15% of US residents have some sort of personality disorder, according to DSM criteria. Now, it has struck me for a while that the US seems to going a bit over the top on personality disorders - in fact, US psychiatry generally strikes me as being a bit faddish - and this isn't likely to dissuade me.

I obviously am neither a psychiatrist nor a psychologist, but those of you who are - does it seem reasonable to you to cast the net so widely? I know personality disorders aren't diseases, but presumably a lot (most?) of these people are adequately functional people.

Also, it immediately suggests a rewrite of the old joke about Parliament :

1. 15% of Americans have a personality disorder.
2. The US federal government has 100 Senators and 435 members of Congress.

The physics article looks intriguing also, but obviously I've no idea what it all means.

Note to self:

Women dressed as giant crabs.

East Texas intermediate crude.

Ultraviolet catastrophe.

Killing me won't bring your nipples back.

All hail Mr Gatso.

Given their record on keeping taxation down during the Eighties and Nineties (abysmal, in case anybody doesn't have the figures to hand), does anyone reckon the Tories actually would cut back significantly on speed cameras should they be elected?

Naaa. Me neither. It's about as likely as a Whitehall efficiency-drive ever working as advertised.

(Oops - mistyped that as "Shitehall". How very Fraudian)