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It seems now road rage or getting angry at your spouse may be a surprisingly prevalent mental illness called Intermittent Explosive Disorder, according to psychiatrists.

Do they have many more questionable categories of mental illnesses up the sleeves of their white coats?

They do — to the dismay of Paula Caplan, a Harvard University psychologist who fought against labelling women's premenstrual symptoms as mental disorders.

And there may be more dubious diagnoses on the way with a revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV now underway and due out in 2011.

"Mental illness is whatever people who come up with the definition say it is," scoffs the former Torontonian.

Hundreds of mental illnesses, from Malingering to Academic Problem, are listed in the current DSM.

Think you're normal and healthy? A cursory reading suggests you're likely suffering from self-delusion.

If you have problems with your sister or brother, it may be Sibling Relational Problem.

Friction with your spouse or lack of communication? Partner Relational Problem.

Concerns about getting married or divorced? Phase of Life Problem.

Refuse to deal with your problem? Non-compliance With Treatment.

"Every time they publish, there are more categories," says Caplan. DSM-IV, published in 1994, added more than 70 new categories, she complains.

"Did 77 new kinds of mental illness spring up? Or are they taking ordinary behaviour and calling it mental illness?"

When the psychiatrists' diagnostic reference book first appeared in 1952, it contained descriptions of 106 illnesses. Each new version has added about 80.

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[ 16 June 2006: Message edited by: arthur ]