DSM-5 Freezes Out its Stakeholders

[mellowsong]

Dr. Allen Frances
21 February 2012

Scary news. The Chair of the DSM 5 Task Force, Dr. David Kupfer, has indicated that 90 percent of the decisions on DSM 5 have already been made.

Why so scary? DSM 5 is the new revision of the psychiatric diagnosis manual, meant to become official in May 2013. It proposes a radical redefinition of the boundary between mental disorder and normality, greatly expanding the former at the expense of the latter. Understandably, this ambitious medicalization of the human condition has generated unprecedented opposition, both from the public and from mental heath professionals. To top it off, the DSM 5 proposals are poorly written, unreliable, and likely to cause the misdiagnosis and the excessive treatment of millions of people.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allen-frances/dsm-5-freezes-out-its-sta_b_1269838.html

[mellowsong]

"DSM 5 has two purposes -- public and private -- which (because of all the delays) are now placed in direct competition. Its public purpose is to provide an official classification of mental disorders that plays a crucial role in clinical communication, research, education, forensics, insurance reimbursement, disability determination, and FDA approval of drug indications. Its private purpose is to be a cash cow for the American Psychiatric Association -- a perennial bestseller of at least 100,000 copies a year, earning profits of at least $5 million a year. An APA that places its public trust first will delay publication of DSM 5 until it can be done right. An APA that protects profits first will prematurely rush a second- or third-rate product into print."