According to Frances and other like-minded critics, a confluence of related factors resulted in an "over-medicalizing" and over-diagnosis of mental illness.

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Exactly what you say to a child who's just received a terrible diagnosis depends on the illness, the child's personality, and on the child's age.

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"The explosive onset of an acute ciguatera illness can be readily identified clinically, but there is no consistent mechanism available to confirm the diagnosis in chronic cases, " said Dr Shoemaker, of the Pfiesteria Illness Center, Maryland.

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But diagnosis and the language of biological illness obscure the causal role of factors such as abuse, poverty and social deprivation.

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Receiving a diagnosis of any life-threatening illness is devastating.

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The increased risk of suicide and cardiovascular death "reflect only the tip of the iceberg of anxiety, mood disturbance, and perhaps other mental illness (or suffering) after a prostate cancer diagnosis, " the authors write.

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Giery said the hospital's diagnosis at the time of death was that his illness was caused by food poisoning from ciguatera, a toxin sometimes found in large saltwater fish including grouper, red snapper and sea bass.

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But they add that "the known facts of Mozart's fatal illness, including the features of oedema, malaise and back pain, seem compatible with this diagnosis".

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Even if there was, there is thought to be only a one in 50 chance of the Whittakers having another child with the illness, so they would not be good candidates for this type of "pre-implantation genetic diagnosis".

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