Can category name be changed?

Having read other threads on this forum, it would appear to me that it is not uncommon for members of the public to be driven to the end of their tether.
I have suggested authorities, among them the world's largest medical library, but obviously expert opinion does not count. If dmoz prefers to stick to archaic terminology, fair enough.
May I suggest dmoz changes the name of the category "actors and actresses" to "thespians"

It is not uncommon for members of the public to be driven to the end of their tether.

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I think members of the public drive themselve crazy - what DSM-IV would probably put under Obsessive-Compulsive

or perhaps, we could categorize this as Axis I V62.2 Disagreement with supervisor - since you are arguing with a moderator

In all seriousness, ODP is not a psychological directory, and unless something is clearly and factually wrong there is no compelling reason to change it.

And since as I said previously DSM-IV seems to say http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Dental_Phobia [I don't trust on-line sources that much, but I can't find my wife's printed copy right now]

Dental phobia (which may also be referred to as odontophobia, dentophobia, or dentist phobia) is one of the specific phobias.


So yes, you do have a valid suggestion, but the category could probably be called any one of this, but why not change it to odontophobia - since that's also used a lot, and that fits in with our naming structure more than "Dental Phobia"

And to lighten up this thread http://www.baby-3.com/The_PopUp_Book_of_Phobias_0688171958.html

I suppose you're right in your diagnosis - I guess I do have an obsessive-compulsive streak
Regarding wordiq - that's not an authority, but a dictionary compiled by members of the public, where anything goes and anyone can edit anyone else's comments.

Back to the original topic: "Dental phobia" is the term most commonly used by both professionals and by the general public, and in my opinion is preferable over neologisms, even if this might mean "violating" the existing one-word naming structure. Interestingly, the current dmoz phobia category contains the commonly used term "social phobia" (rather than the Greek-root "sociophobia"). Why, then, is it not possible to list "dental phobia" rather than the archaic "dentophobia"?

It is possible. But we have to have a REASON.

Your obsession is not a reason. Your allegations are not reasons.

You didn't answer the question. Were you proposing that we review our entire category nomenclature -- uh, excuse me, topic names -- based on DSM-IV?

Using DSM-IV as a basis would probably be an ok thing to do from a professional point of view, and is not out of line from [most of] the current cat names. From an end user's point of view, I'm not so sure that even the current names are ok.

E.g. I never heard of Emetophobia - though I made the correct guess what it was.

However, since the descriptions clarify things, an ODP search for fear of vomiting ends up getting me there.

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Social Phobia does look out of line but does (DSM-IV: 300.23) not use that term? [Ref: DSM-IV Made Easy James Morrison]

OK, if DSM-IV is not the preferred reference, then what is?

Look, we aren't going to discuss one category name with you. We're going to ask how we can best come up with the most appropriate category names for these technical terms. If you propose a constructive procedure, that is something we can take back to our internal forums.

As far as I'm aware, DSM-IV does not specifically list miscellaneous specific phobias, though I might be mistaken. Generally the psychiatric literature refers to it as "a specific phobia of going to the dentist" or "dental phobia" where the phobia is discussed in greater detail.
I'm basing my suggestion primarily on scientific papers, which mostly refer to "dental phobia", especially in the main text (although "odontophobia" is often used as an additional search term). Also, it is much more widely used than either "dentophobia" or "odontophobia" by the general public.
I have no objection to renaming phobias for the entire category to make dmoz more user-friendly (e. g. "fear of spiders", "fear of vomiting", "fear of the dentist and/or dental procedures" etc.). I suppose the main argument against this naming system would be that the names might become too long. But I can't see why "dentophobia" can't be changed to "dental phobia", considering that the category features "social phobia" as opposed to the archaic "sociophobia".

That's OK. You really don't have to see it. And perhaps we should leave it at that.