While widely accepted among psychologists and psychiatrists, the manual has proved controversial in its listing of certain characteristics as mental disorders. The most notorious example is the listing in the DSM-II of homosexuality as a mental disorder; a classification that was removed by vote of the APA in 1973 (see also homosexuality and psychology).
Brief history
The first edition (DSM-I) was published in 1952, and had about 60 different disorders.
Both of these editions were strongly influenced by the psychodynamic approach. There was no sharp distinction between normal and abnormal, and all disorders were considered reactions to environmental events. Mental disorders existed on a continuum of behavior. This way, everyone is more or less abnormal. The people with more severe abnormalities have more severe difficulties with functioning.
The early editions of the DSM distinguished between a psychosis and a neurosis. A psychosis is a severe mental disorder characterized by a break with reality. Psychoses typically involve hallucinations, delusions, and illogical thinking. A neurosis is a milder mental disorder characterized by distortions of reality, but not a complete break with reality. Neuroses typically involve anxiety and depression.
In 1980, with DSM-III, the psychodynamic view was abandoned and the medical model became the primary approach, introducing a clear distinction between normal and abnormal. The DSM became "atheoretical", since it had no preferred etiology for mental disorders.
In 1987 the DSM-III-R appeared as a revision of DSM-III.
In 1994, it evolved into DSM-IV. This book is currently in its fourth edition.
The most recent version is the 'Text Revision' of the DSM-IV, also known as the DSM-IV-TR, published in 2000.
DSM-V, is not scheduled for publication until 2010. The APA Division of Research does not expect to begin forming DSM development workgroups until 2005 or later.
The Diagnostic and StatisticalManual of Mental Disordersis a reference work consulted by psychiatrists, psychologists, physicians in clinical practice, social workers, medical and nursing students, pastoral counselors, and other professionals in health care and social service fields.
Kraepelin is also important in the history of diagnostic classification because he represented a biologically based view of mental disorders in opposition to the psychoanalytical approach of Sigmund Freud.
The leaders of this transformation were biological psychiatrists who wanted to empty the diagnosticmanual of terms and theories associated with hypothetical or explanatory concepts.
Diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse and dependence reflect the consensus of researchers as to precisely which patterns of behavior or physiological characteristics constitute symptoms of these conditions (1).
Diagnostic criteria allow clinicians to plan treatment and monitor treatment progress; make communication possible between clinicians and researchers; enable public health planners to ensure the availability of treatment facilities; help health care insurers to decide whether treatment will be reimbursed; and allow patients access to medical insurance coverage (1-3).
The DSMdiagnostic criteria for psychiatric disorders are the criteria primarily used in the United States.
Feeds |
Contact