What is the DSM-5?

I hear too often someone self-diagnosing themselves or diagnosing others inappropriately regarding mental illness.  "I'm depressed...," "She's bi-polar...,"  "He's borderline...,"  and on and on and on.  Most of the time,  the average person uses these terms loosely, not knowing the true criteria for an actual diagnosis of depression, bi-polar, or borderline.  Based on this pet-peeve of mine, I thought it might be helpful to discuss what the DSM-5 is and how the helping profession uses this manual to diagnosis clients. This information can be helpful to a client if they want to learn more specifically about a diagnosis either for themselves or a loved one.  It is also important for people to become informed on what the true definitions of some disorders are called so that terms are not inappropriately used in our common language.

The DSM-5 is the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).  This is the manual that counselors, psychologists, and psychiatrists use to diagnosis clients regarding mental illness.  There have been several revisions of the manual as we've evolved in science and in the field of mental health.  For the history of the manual, click on the following link: http://www.psychiatry.org/practice/dsm/dsm-history-of-the-manual.  The manual is divided into categories based on disorders and for each disorder there is a summary of criteria for the diagnosis.  The manual also contains assessment measures to be utilized for diagnosis.  It is not a treatment manual of any kind, but a diagnostic and assessment tool.  To see more information, click the following link: http://www.psychiatry.org/dsm5

The DSM-5 is making waves in the counseling field due to some major changes from the previous version regarding classification.  To highlight a couple major changes: 1) There is no longer a classification for "Asperger Syndrome" under the Autism Spectrum Disorders. 2) The term mental retardation is no longer used, instead the new term is Intellectual Disability (Intellectual Developmental Disorder).  and 3) The DSM-IV sub-types of schizophrenia  (i.e., paranoid, disorganized, catatonic, undifferentiated, and residual types) are eliminated.  To read about more of the changes click on the following link: http://www.dsm5.org/Documents/changes%20from%20dsm-iv-tr%20to%20dsm-5.pdf.

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