🧱 SECTION A — Core Definition & Scope (Green / Yellow / Red Audit)

(All facts sourced from the Psychiatry Wikipedia page.)

✅ GREEN — Empirical, measurable, substrate‑anchored#

These elements rely on physical examination, measurable data, or established medical methodology.

• Case history
  A structured, observable, documentable record of events and symptoms.

• Mental status examination
  Standardized observational protocol; inter‑rater reliability varies, but the method itself is empirical.

• Laboratory tests
  Objective biological measures (bloodwork, metabolic panels, etc.).

• Physical examination
  Standard medical practice; grounded in physiology.

• Neuroimaging / neurophysiology (when used)
  Empirical tools, even if not diagnostic for psychiatric categories.

• Use of neuroscience, biology, biochemistry, pharmacology
  These are scientific domains with measurable substrates.

• Psychological & cognitive tests (validated ones)
  When psychometrically validated, they meet scientific criteria (reliability, standardization).

Why these are green:
They operate on observable, measurable, falsifiable data. Even if interpretation varies, the underlying methods are scientific.

⚠️ YELLOW — Mixed validity, partially empirical, partially interpretive#

These elements combine structured methods with subjective interpretation or culturally shaped assumptions.

• Diagnosis of “mental disorders” as symptom clusters
  Uses structured manuals (DSM/ICD) but categories lack biomarkers.

• Psychological assessments (broad category)
  Some are validated; others are interpretive or low‑reliability.

• Personality tests
  Highly variable scientific grounding; some robust (e.g., MMPI), others not.

• Cognition / perception / mood / emotion as constructs
  Real phenomena, but operationalization varies across models.

• Use of diagnostic manuals (DSM, ICD)
  Standardized, but based on consensus rather than biological entities.

• Differential diagnosis in psychiatry
  Methodologically scientific, but constrained by non‑substrate categories.

Why these are yellow:
They use scientific methods but rely on interpretive constructs rather than substrate‑anchored entities. They are structured but not fully empirical.

❌ RED — Non‑scientific, institutional, or culturally constructed#

These elements are not grounded in measurable substrates and often reflect institutional convenience or historical legacy.

• “Mental illness” as a unified category
  Not a single biological entity; umbrella term with no substrate coherence.

• Personality disorders as defined in DSM
  Highly culture‑dependent, low reliability, no biomarkers.

• Conventional division into “mental illness / learning disability / personality disorder”
  Administrative categories, not scientific ones.

• Use of diagnostic labels as if they were biological diseases
  The page itself notes lack of objective laboratory measures.

• Reliance on subjective patient report as primary data source
  Necessary clinically, but not scientific in the strict sense.

Why these are red:
They lack falsifiability, biological grounding, or consistent reliability. They are institutional artifacts, not scientific constructs.

🧩 Summary of Section A Audit#

Here’s the structural picture:

This gives us a clean, defensible foundation for the next phases of our fork.