Political Apathy Disorder (PAD) is proposed as a new DSM diagnostic category for the failure to develop a social conscience. The essential feature is a pervasive pattern of failing to help reduce human suffering in the world combined with overconsumption of society’s limited resources. Those suffering from PAD fulfill the basic DSM criteria of a mental disorder: distress, disability, and increased risk of suffering death, pain, disability, or an important loss of freedom. It is proposed that failure to achieve the characteristics necessary to live a constructive moral life that benefits society should be considered grounds for inclusion in the diagnostic nomenclature.
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