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Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,
published by the American Psychiatric Association, is the handbook used most
often in diagnosing mental disorders in the United States and other countries.
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.
Brief history of DSM
 | The first edition (DSM-I) was published in 1952, and had
about 60 different disorders.
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| DSM-II was published in 1968. |
- 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 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.
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| In 1987 the DSM-III-R appeared as a revision of DSM III.
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| In 1994, it evolved into DSM-IV. This book is currently
in its fourth edition.
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| The most recent version is the 'Text Revision' of the DSM-IV, also known
as the DSM-IV-TR, published in 2000.
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| 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. |
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