MENTALISM, MECHANISMS, AND MEDICAL ANALOGS - REPLY TO WAKEFIELD (1998)

J. C. Wakefield's (1998) critique of W. C. Follette and A. C. Houts's (1996) article is addressed by raising questions about (a) mentalism a s a framework for studying psychopathology, (b) the nature of inferred mechanisms and the process of making such inferences, and (c) the acc uracy of claiming that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM; American Psychiatric Association) expansion is analog ous to the success of physical medicine. The authors argue that Wakefi eld's analysis of mental disorders leads to the conclusion that the mo dem DSMs are not reflective of the progress of physical medicine.