BPS and the DSM

The British Psychological Society has more to say on the matters being debated to do with the publishing of the DSM-5. For more information, check out my article on The Periodical: http://theperiodical.info/2012/06/10/the-dsm-5-stop-ignoring-mental-illness/ - do leave a comment if you have any thoughts, it is important that such issues provoke debate.

Dr David Murphy, Chair of the Society’s Professional Practice Board, says:

The Society applauds the American Psychiatric Association for engaging in this level of public consultation, and we welcome some of the changes from the previous iteration, such as the deferment of the decision to include the category of ‘attenuated psychosis syndrome’  and to recommend further research.

However we continue to have serious concerns about many aspects of the framework. In our response we have argued that the categorical framework of DSM-V is flawed in that it fails to take account of the evidence for the dimensional spectrum of psychiatric symptoms such as low mood, hearing voices, unusual beliefs etc in the general population.

We have also highlighted significant concerns about lowering of diagnositic thresholds and the validity ‘catch all’ diagnostic categories that exist within DSM-V such as ‘ADHD not elsewhere classified’, which we are concerned have poor inter rater reliability.

We are concerned that both of these aspects lead to the risk of overdiagnosis and thereby potentially unnecessary and potentially harmful treatment with medication.