APA News Release: 09 March 10: APA Modifies DSM Naming Convention to Reflect Publication Changes

APA News Release: 09 March 10: APA Modifies DSM Naming Convention to Reflect Publication Changes 

Post #24 Shortlink: http://wp.me/pKrrB-CS 

Today, the APA has issued News Release No. 10-17 

Open PDF for News Release here: DSM Name Change 09.03.10 

Text

For Information Contact:
Eve Herold, 703-907-8640
press@psych.org
Jaime Valora, 703-907-8562
jvalora@psych.org 

For Immediate Release:
March 8, 2010
Release No. 10-17 

Graphic of working DSM-5 cover available upon request. 

APA Modifies DSM Naming Convention to Reflect Publication Changes 

ARLINGTON, Va. (March 9, 2010) – Beginning with the upcoming fifth edition, new versions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) will be identified with Arabic rather than Roman numerals, marking a change in how future updates will be created, according to the American Psychiatric Association. 

The new edition will be identified as DSM-5, breaking the pattern established with publication of the DSM-II in 1968. The change reflects the ability of the APA to use new technologies to create a document that can respond more quickly when a preponderance of research supports a change. 

“While knowledge about mental illnesses has grown significantly in the last half century, knowledge of neurobiology will continue to advance,” said APA President Alan F. Schatzberg, M.D. “Some of the changes coming with DSM-5 will facilitate new approaches to research that will lead to further advances.”

Following the publication of the DSM-5, ongoing review groups will be established to coordinate and oversee periodic assessments of advancements. The review groups will determine if a more intensive assessment or changes to the diagnostic criteria are warranted. APA practice guidelines and other diagnostic manuals are updated following a similar process.

“Advances in research will continue to drive changes to the DSM,” said David Kupfer, M.D., chair of the DSM-5 Task Force, which is in charge of the current revision process. “Our primary commitment will continue to be to create a manual that is based on science and is useful in diagnosing and treating patients.”

Incremental updates will be identified with decimals, i.e. DSM-5.1, DSM-5.2, etc., until a new edition is required.

“The research base is evolving at different rates for different disorders,” said Darrel Regier, M.D., M.P.H., vice chair of the DSM Task Force and executive director of the American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education. “By making the DSM-5 a living document, we will ensure that the DSM will remain a common language in the field. It will hasten our response to breakthroughs in research.”

The anticipated bibliographic citation to the book is American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 2013.

Draft criteria for DSM-5 are available for review and comment until April 20 at www.dsm5.org. 

The American Psychiatric Association is a national medical specialty society whose physician members specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, prevention and research of mental illnesses, including substance use disorders.

Visit the APA at www.psych.org, www.HealthyMinds.org and http://www.psychiatryonline.com/ .

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