The Buzz: Psychiatrists Split Over DSM-V

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association, is used by psychiatrists to accurately diagnose patients along five different axes of disorders. Four versions have been produced since the first publication in 1952, and a specially appointed task force began revisions on a fifth, DSM-V, in 2007, for publication in 2012. But critics of DSM-V say that the manual's introduction of dimensional, rather than categorical, diagnoses is a paradigm shift that the field is not ready for. Secrecy surrounding its development has also bred concern among psychiatrists, leading to the resignation of committee member Jane Costello. As David Dobbs says on Neuron Culture, "This level of disagreement and polarization only deepens my belief that the discipline is at crisis point and a crossroads--and in the nasty, scratchy fight over who gets to drive, the question of where to actually go may get a rather rushed answer."

• Wheels come off psychiatric manual; APA blames road conditions on Neuron Culture
• DSM-V Psych Bus hits more big potholes; passengers bail on Neuron Culture
• Reset Button for DSM Diagnosis? (Part 1) on Corpus Callosum
• Reset Button for DSM Diagnosis? (Part 2) on Corpus Callosum