DSM V Draft

The last update to medical disorder descriptions in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, more widely known as the DSM IV, was in 1994 and many believe revisions are past due given the accumulating research in the field. On February 10, 2010, Neal Conan of NPR's Talk of the Nation interviewed Dr. David Kupfer, professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School and chair of the DSM-V task force, regarding proposed changes in description of some medical disorders, including bi-polar disorders in children and Asperger's.

According to Dr. Kupfer,"...there's been a tremendous amount of research since that time. There's also been, I think, a clarity with respect to the fact that a number of diagnoses did really not work well in real-life practice, and why were patients being diagnosed as often with NOS, not otherwise specified." In addition, Dr. Kupfer offered examples,"...for example, DSM-IV used the term mental retardation. There are important changes in the use of that term, and language is important. And so, for example, not only will we propose the use of
'intellectual disability", but we've included a number of criteria changes there to be more precise with when that diagnosis is appropriate."

Neil Conan asked Jon Hamilton, NPR's science correspondent, about other revisions such as the re-categorization of Asperger's disorder. Hamilton, who had reviewed the new draft said,..."it will be called the autism spectrum disorder, and it includes not just Asperger's but several other what used to be sort of sub-categories of autism. And as Dr. Kupfer was saying though, the point here is to try to put things that are similar into one category and then worry about severity of the symptoms rather than in having all these different buckets to put things in."

Many parents and professional have concerns about maintaining services based on changing diagnosis criteria and how insurance companies might react. The current draft has been put out for comment and revisions will not take effect until after public and professionals respond. DSM V will then be published in 1013.

For the full NPR article go to: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123570221
Also Note: The new DSM-5 Web site, which includes proposed revisions and draft diagnostic criteria, is now available at http://www.dsm5.org/ According to the APA, "May 2013 will mark one the most anticipated events in the mental health field." Visitors can log in to comment on the draft.