So I've been reading some classification papers, and I figured this could make an interesting thread topic. I obviously don't expect us to completely resolve all the issues with the DSM here, but what are your big problems with it? If you could change a couple things, what would they be? It can be disorder-specific or more broad, it doesn't matter.
For me, the big ones are:
1) Less categorization, more continuity. This applies to everythings from Axis, to disorders, to symptoms. I think the way it is currently set up makes "official" diagnosis almost arbitrary. It is so easy for a person to not meet "official" criterion for one disorder, yet still have one symptom severe enough that there is no reason they shouldn't be classified as having that disorder.
2) This sort of ties into #1 in a way, but less focus on isolating certain diagnoses. Let's face it, everything is comorbid with everything in our field. We have a serious classification problem. The manual could be re-written with MUCH better analysis of co-morbidity (e.g. drinking as a means of self-medicating a mood disorder, ED as a means of handling what is basically a form of social anxiety). I could go on and on, but I think there's way too much compartmentalization of disorders the way it is currently written. From reading the section on MDD, you'd barely know that there is an ENORMOUS correlation with anxiety.
So what would others change?
For me, the big ones are:
1) Less categorization, more continuity. This applies to everythings from Axis, to disorders, to symptoms. I think the way it is currently set up makes "official" diagnosis almost arbitrary. It is so easy for a person to not meet "official" criterion for one disorder, yet still have one symptom severe enough that there is no reason they shouldn't be classified as having that disorder.
2) This sort of ties into #1 in a way, but less focus on isolating certain diagnoses. Let's face it, everything is comorbid with everything in our field. We have a serious classification problem. The manual could be re-written with MUCH better analysis of co-morbidity (e.g. drinking as a means of self-medicating a mood disorder, ED as a means of handling what is basically a form of social anxiety). I could go on and on, but I think there's way too much compartmentalization of disorders the way it is currently written. From reading the section on MDD, you'd barely know that there is an ENORMOUS correlation with anxiety.
So what would others change?
Other prevalence rates are equally loony.
