Without comment or endorsement:

https://www.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/10gnll5/wha...

https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/you-dont-want-a-purely-biol...

I think the primary reason why DSM is so important in the United States is medical billing.

By providing a billing code to the insurance company, it implies that there is a medically necessary reason for treatment and what that implied reason is that the insurance company would need to impeach. Many therapists use super general codes.

By linking a treatment code back to the DSM, it implies that the psychological profession as a whole agrees that there is something wrong with that person.