DSM
- This article is part of the SM-201 Macropedia
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR), published by the American Psychiatric Association, is the handbook used most often in diagnosing mental disorders in the United States. The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) is a commonly-used alternative internationally. The DSM tends to be the more specific of the two. Both assume medical concepts and terms, and state that there are categorical disorders that can be diagnosed by set lists of criteria. It is controversial and some mental health professionals and others question the utility of this classification system.
The DSM-IV-TR warns that, because it is produced for mental health specialists, its use by people without clinical training can lead to inappropriate application of its contents. They generally advise that laypersons should consult the DSM only to obtain information, not to make diagnoses and that people who may have a mental disorder should be referred to psychiatric counseling or treatment.
Brief history
Users should be reminded that the manual is, to an extent, a historical document. The science used to create categories, taxonomies, and diagnoses is based on statistical models. These systems are thus subject to the limitations of the methods used to create them. Deconstructive critics assert that DSM invents illnesses and behaviors. Detractors of DSM argue that patients frequently fail to fit into any particular category or fall into several, that time limits and numbers of clinical characteristics required for categorization are arbitrary and that attention directed towards finding a suitable DSM category for a patient would be better spent discussing possible life-history events that precipitated a mental disturbance or monitoring treatment. Since effective treatment is the aim of the psychiatric profession they would argue that it makes more sense to regard ailments on the basis of how they should be treated rather than on deciding what clinically irrelevant differences place them in one category and not another. This would allow for the modular treatment of different sets of symptoms, for instance prescribing antidepressants for a deficit of serotonin and tranquilizers to deal with acute anxiety.
- Wikipedia article: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
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