Finn

February 6th, 2012 at 2:00PM

neurolove:

What is the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)?
I mention it sometimes, but I haven’t talked about it before. Most frequently, you will hear the DSM referred to by its current edition (DSM-IV, usu said colloquially as ‘dee es em eye vee’ instead of four for the roman numeral). The DSM was first created in 1954 by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), and the most recent big revision for the DSM-IV was back in 1994 (though there was a text revision, ‘TR,’ in 2000). I know several people who have been consulting for several disorders for the DSM-V (actually called DSM-five) which they are working on putting together now.
The DSM classifies psychiatric disorders. This may seem pretty simple, but how do you really diagnose schizophrenia or drug dependence? The DSM tells you how. For instance, it might have a list of possible criteria and suggest that a person must meet so many of them to be diagnosed with that disorder. It’s not perfect by any means, but it is certainly a very good guide and helps to standardize definitions of mental disorders across clinicians and researchers.
Hopefully, with more and more editions, the DSM will continue to improve. For instance, the DSM-IV does not include hoarding as a disorder (rather, it is listed as a symptom of OCD), but I know some researchers who are fighting to get it listed as a separate disorder since it can appear in individuals who do not fit the other criteria for OCD and has separate neurological presentation (meaning it seems to involve different brain areas) and might merely have high comorbidity (meaning they occur together) with OCD. This is still up for debate however, so I imagine we’ll have to wait until they release the DSM-V to see what the result is!
[Image Source]
Also, don’t forget to follow NeuroLove on twitter!

What is the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders)?

I mention it sometimes, but I haven’t talked about it before. Most frequently, you will hear the DSM referred to by its current edition (DSM-IV, usu said colloquially as ‘dee es em eye vee’ instead of four for the roman numeral). The DSM was first created in 1954 by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), and the most recent big revision for the DSM-IV was back in 1994 (though there was a text revision, ‘TR,’ in 2000). I know several people who have been consulting for several disorders for the DSM-V (actually called DSM-five) which they are working on putting together now.

The DSM classifies psychiatric disorders. This may seem pretty simple, but how do you really diagnose schizophrenia or drug dependence? The DSM tells you how. For instance, it might have a list of possible criteria and suggest that a person must meet so many of them to be diagnosed with that disorder. It’s not perfect by any means, but it is certainly a very good guide and helps to standardize definitions of mental disorders across clinicians and researchers.

Hopefully, with more and more editions, the DSM will continue to improve. For instance, the DSM-IV does not include hoarding as a disorder (rather, it is listed as a symptom of OCD), but I know some researchers who are fighting to get it listed as a separate disorder since it can appear in individuals who do not fit the other criteria for OCD and has separate neurological presentation (meaning it seems to involve different brain areas) and might merely have high comorbidity (meaning they occur together) with OCD. This is still up for debate however, so I imagine we’ll have to wait until they release the DSM-V to see what the result is!

[Image Source]

Also, don’t forget to follow NeuroLove on twitter!

(via houseofmind)