11 December 2009
On 10 December, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) issued a press
release announcing a revised timeline for publishing the fifth edition of
the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), moving
the anticipated release date from May 2012 to May 2013.
"Extending the timeline will allow more time for public review, field
trials and revisions," said APA President Alan Schatzberg, M.D."
"The extension will also permit the DSM-5 to better link with the U.S.
implementation of the ICD-10-CM codes for all Medicare/Medicaid claims
reporting, scheduled for October 1, 2013."
PDF of APA Press Release: http://wp.me/p5foE-2uO
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The day before the announcement, New Scientist published an editorial and
article by Peter Aldhous.
DSM-V revision in this week's New Scientist:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427382.400-times-up-for-psychiatrys-bible.html
Editorial:
Time's up for psychiatry's bible
09 December 2009
"...The final wording of the new manual will have worldwide significance.
DSM is considered the bible of psychiatry, and if the APA broadens the
diagnostic criteria for conditions such as schizophrenia and depression,
millions more people could be placed on powerful drugs, some of which have
serious side effects. Similarly, newly defined mental illnesses that deem
certain individuals a danger to society could be used to justify locking
these people up for life."
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427381.300-psychiatrys-civil-war.html
Article:
Psychiatry's civil war
09 December 2009 by Peter Aldhous
"...Two eminent retired psychiatrists are warning that the revision process
is fatally flawed. They say the new manual, to be known as DSM-V, will
extend definitions of mental illnesses so broadly that tens of millions of
people will be given unnecessary and risky drugs. Leaders of the American
Psychiatric Association (APA), which publishes the manual, have shot back,
accusing the pair of being motivated by their own financial interests - a
charge they deny. The row is set to come to a head next month when the
proposed changes will be published online. For a profession that exists to
soothe human troubles, it's incendiary stuff."
"...Some of the most acrimonious arguments stem from worries about the
pharmaceutical industry's influence over psychiatry. This has led to the
spotlight being turned on the financial ties of those in charge of revising
the manual, and has made any diagnostic changes that could expand the use
of drugs especially controversial."
"...Some of the harshest criticisms have come from those who led previous
revisions of the DSM, in 1980 and 1994. In July, Robert Spitzer and Allen
Frances, both now retired, wrote a stinging letter* to the APA, accusing it
of planning unworkable changes and making grandiose claims. In a separate
editorial in the magazine Psychiatric Times,** Frances complained that
most of the authors are university-based researchers who are cut off from
typical doctors and patients."
"...Spitzer and Frances also criticise the fact that members of the various
DSM-V work groups have had to sign confidentiality agreements. "The main
problem is that we don't know what they're doing," says Spitzer. The APA
says the confidentiality agreements are to stop the manual's authors
writing their own diagnostic handbooks alongside the official manual.
Kupfer points out that discussion does go on: work groups proposing major
changes debate their ideas in papers and at meetings. "We've done
everything we can to encourage it," he says."
* http://tinyurl.com/DSMletterJuly09
** http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/1425378?verify=0
-----------------------
Opinion on DSM-V revision on Psychiatric Times site:
http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/1493263
03 December 2009
Psychiatric Times
COMMENTARY
Alert to the Research Community-Be Prepared to Weigh in on DSM-V by Allen
Frances, MD
Dr Frances was the chair of the DSM-IV Task Force and of the department of
psychiatry at Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC. He is
currently professor emeritus at Duke.
"This commentary will suggest how the research community can be
instrumental in improving DSM-V and helping it avoid unintended
consequences. According to several converging, anonymous (but I think quite
reliable) sources to which I have had access, the draft options for DSM-V
will finally be posted between mid-January and mid-February 2010. There
will then be just one additional month until mid-March for collecting
comments. The good news is that the products of a previously closed process
will finally be available for wide review and correction. The bad news is
that there will be only a very brief period allotted for this absolutely
crucial input from the field.
"The research community has a central role and a great responsibility in
taking advantage of this precious opportunity to carefully review and
identify the problems in the DSM-V drafts and to suggest solutions..."
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Suzy Chapman
me.agenda@virgin.net
http://meagenda.wordpress.com
http://twitter.com/MEagenda
http://www.facebook.com/MEagenda
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