Shyness during childhood may well be classified as a form of mental ailment as per fresh but controversial guidelines released by the Government. In this regard, experts have expressed a world of concerns saying that such a reclassification of depression and shyness among kids to mental disorders can prove extremely dicey for their growth and overall development.

They have also expressed their apprehension that depression following bereavement and conduct of children can now be visualized as eccentric or avant-garde, and it will therefore become a medical issue.

In addition, it is being speculated that gambling and internet addiction are also likely to be categorized as forms of mental illness.

The risk arrives in the form of planned amendments in the U. S. Manual of Mental Disorders, which was viewed and respected as a bible by a large number of people in the concerned fraternity.

Though the amendments to the fifth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders are not expected to turn up with any kind of straight influence on clinical practice here, mainly as the majority of doctors tend to make application of diverse guidelines, experts held the opinion that it will ultimately influence the thinking of the masses.

While expressing his opinion regarding the possible consequences of amendments in the law, an expert from King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Simon Wessely, said: “We need to be very careful before further broadening the boundaries of illness and disorder. Back in 1840 the census of the United States included just one category for mental disorder”.

Reports have further shed light on the fact that a large number of people all over the United Kingdom, and away as well, can be prescribed a psychiatric screening which can result in messing up their lives on the whole, and that’s the point of ponder for the majority of leading psychiatrists and psychologists in the region.