The existence of a "spectrum disease" is a misnomer. The people who invented the term clearly defined it as an approach to researching disease, merely a psychological crutch to use when thinking about disease and not something that actually exists. This flawed "research view" unduly medicalizes problems which are simply challenges people face in life.

There was talk of including some limited use of the term spectrum in the planning of the DSM-V but that's all it was, talk.