NIMH moves away from the DSM
2013-05-03 23:59:42.754473+02 by Dan Lyke 0 comments
About freakin' time: NIMH: Transforming Diagnosis, in which the National Institute of Mental Health announces that DSM-5 is coming out in a few weeks, and the NIMH is abandoning the DSM:
... The strength of each of the editions of DSM has been “reliability” – each edition has ensured that clinicians use the same terms in the same ways. The weakness is its lack of validity. Unlike our definitions of ischemic heart disease, lymphoma, or AIDS, the DSM diagnoses are based on a consensus about clusters of clinical symptoms, not any objective laboratory measure. ...
Via.
If you had to pick one major "what could be done right now to improve mental health services and treatment", I think this'd be it. Applause from this sector.