DSM-5 UNDER FIRE - NEWS COURTESY OF THE BPS APRIL MAGAZINE

Worldwide debate continues around the 5th
edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders, following the Society’s
robust response to the DSM consultation
exercise (see tinyurl.com/bpsdsm5).
The lead author for the Society was the then
Chair of the Division of Clinical Psychology,
Professor Peter Kinderman. The Society warned
about the dangers of ‘medicalisation of natural
and normal responses to...experience’ in the
response on the new edition, which is due to be
published in 2013.
 
This in turn prompted the Society for
Humanistic Psychology, a subdivision of the
American Psychological Association, to create
an online petition and write an open letter to
the DSM committee calling for a scientific
review of some of the more controversial
proposals such as ‘attenuated psychosis
syndrome’ and ‘apathy syndrome’ (see
www.ipetitions.com/petition/dsm5). The
petition now has over 12,000 signatures, and its
aims and concerns have been supported by over
50 organisations, including the BPS. One of the
loudest voices has been that of Professor Allen
Frances, former Chair of the DSM-IV Task
Force, who believes that the introduction of
unevidenced new categories and the expansion
of existing ones is ‘radical and reckless’.
 
The debate has not stopped there.
Psychiatrist Professor Nick Craddock and
Professor Peter Kinderman gave a press
conference on 9 February in London,
expressing concern that the shy or bereaved
might find themselves with a diagnosis of
mental illness. They were supported by quotes
from a number of other prominent
psychologists and psychiatrists. The story was
widely reported in the British broadsheet and
tabloid press and across the world, including
the USA, Canada and New Zealand.
The DSM committee has not, to date,
agreed to submit its proposals and evidence
for external scientific review, although the final
round of consultation was due to commence
‘in spring 2012’. However, it seems unlikely that
the story will go away. The campaigning group
Mindfreedom (www.mindfreedom.org) is
planning to ‘Occupy’ the American Psychiatric
Association’s annual meeting in Philadelphia
on 5 May as a protest at the new manual.
The Society’s statement on DSM can be
found at www.bps.org.uk/news/societystatement-
dsm-5, and all the relevant articles,
responses and new developments can be found
at www.dxrevisionwatch.wordpress.com.
 

Lucy Johnstone, Division of Clinical
Psychology Communications Lead