The BMJ recently ran a vote on bmj.com to identify the “top 10 non-diseases”.
“Some critics thought it an absurd exercise, but the primary aim was to illustrate the slipperiness of the notion of disease. We wanted to prompt a debate on what is and what is not a disease and draw attention to the increasing tendency to classify people’s problems as diseases. Smith (p 883) argues that to have your condition labelled as a disease may bring considerable benefit, but the diagnosis may also create problems—you may be denied insurance, a mortgage, and employment. He says that everything is to be gained and nothing lost by raising consciousness about the “slipperiness of the concept of disease.”
Top 10 non-diseases (In descending order of non-disease)
Ageing
Work
Boredom
Bags under eyes
Ignorance
Baldness
Freckles
Big ears
Grey or white hair
Ugliness
Source: BMJWhen is a disease a “non-disease”? BMJ 2002 324: 0. [Full Text] [PDF]
