Depressed, Not Disordered: Fittingness and Pathologies of Emotion

Distressing emotions and emotions that impede social functioning are standard components of psychiatric disorders, but the presence of a pathology requires underlying psychological dysfunction in addition. This article argues that, given a commitment to a popular philosophical picture of emotions (and moods), affective dysfunction should be understood in terms of the normative concept of fittingness. Therefore, an individual should be understood to be affectively disordered only if their emotional responses are systematically unfitting. This view gains support from some quarters; notably, the DSM-V-TR diagnostic criteria for Major Depressive Disorder exhibits an inchoate appreciation of the importance of (un)fittingness to psychiatric disorder, and debates about the pathological status of prolonged grief are naturally interpreted as debates about the fittingness of that attitude. Taking a synoptic perspective, accounting for fittingness can help to establish the limits of psychiatric practice and avoid potential disciplinary injustices.