ICD-11 should not repeat the mistakes made by DSM-5.

Having two systems of psychiatric diagnosis creates unnecessary confusion therefore it would be desirable to achieve increased consistency between ICD-11 and DSM-5. Unfortunately, however, DSM-5 has included many controversial suggestions that have weak scientific support and insufficient risk-benefit analysis. As a result ICD-11 should learn from the DSM-5 mistakes rather than repeating them.

Rates of Prolonged Grief Disorder: Considering relationship to the person who died and cause of death.

BACKGROUND: Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) was recently included in DSM-5-TR. The rate of PGD is known to vary according to a number of factors and little is known about how bereaved individuals view the diagnosis. METHODS: This cross-sectional study assessed PGD rates using the Prolonged Grief-13-Revised (PG-13-R) among a large sample (n = 1137) of bereaved individuals, considering the relationship to the deceased and cause of death. It also investigated bereaved individuals' attitudes toward the diagnosis. RESULTS: Overall, 34.3 % of the sample met PGD criteria. Bereaved parents had the highest rate (41.6 %), followed by bereaved spouses/partners (33.7 %) and siblings (29.4 %). According to cause of death, those bereaved by substance overdose had the highest rate (59.1 %), followed by homicide/suicide (46 %) and accidental (36 %). The majority of respondents (65-95.6 %) viewed their responses, as measured by the PG-13-R items, as normal, and 98.1 % agreed that their responses in general were normal. Fewer than 12 % reported that a PGD diagnosis would be helpful to them. LIMITATIONS: This study used a self-selecting, non-representative sample that was predominantly female and white. Findings may or may not apply to more diverse groups and cannot be generalized. This study also used a self-report measure rather than a clinical interview. CONCLUSIONS: In line with prior research, this study found higher rates of PGD in specific subgroups, including bereaved parents, spouses, and those who lost loved ones to substance overdose, homicide/suicide, or accidents. Bereaved individuals in this sample generally did not view receiving a diagnosis of PGD as helpful.

Psychiatric diagnosis: lessons from the DSM-IV past and cautions for the DSM-5 future.

The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders provides the authoritative list of what are considered to be mental disorders. This list has a tremendous impact on research, funding, and treatment, as well as a variety of civil and forensic decisions. The development of this diagnostic manual is an enormous responsibility. Provided herein are lessons learned during the course of the development of the fourth edition. Noted in particular is the importance of obtaining and publishing critical reviews, restraining the unbridled creativity of experts, conducting field trials that address key issues and concerns, and conducting forthright risk-benefit analyses. It is suggested that future editions of the diagnostic manual be developed under the auspices of the Institute of Medicine. The goal would be broad representation, an evidence-based approach, disinterested recommendations, and a careful attention to the risks and benefits of each suggestion for change to the individual patient, to public policy, and to forensic applications.

Diagnostic inflation: causes and a suggested cure.

There have been a striking diagnostic inflation and a corresponding increase in the use of psychotropic drugs during the past 30 years. DSM-5, scheduled to appear in May 2013, proposes another grand expansion of mental illness. In this article, we will review the causes of diagnostic exuberance and associated medical treatment. We will then suggest a method of stepped care combined with stepped diagnosis, which may reduce overdiagnosis without risking undertreatment of those who really need help. The goal is to control diagnostic inflation, to reduce the harms and costs of unnecessary treatment, and to save psychiatry from overdiagnosis and ridicule.

DSM-5 further inflates attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Since the publication of DSM-IV in 1994, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) prevalence and medication use unexpectedly increased significantly. In this article, we explore the DSM-5 proposals for ADHD that are likely to further increase its prevalence. We also address the possible harmful consequences of further expansion of this already broad, defined, and inflated DSM category.

Abandonment Psychotherapy and Psychosocial Functioning Among Suicidal Patients With Borderline Personality Disorder: A 3-Year Naturalistic Follow-Up.

The authors present the results from a 3-year follow-up among 170 patients who had participated in the original randomized study, which consisted of three treatment conditions: (a) 3-month abandonment psychotherapy (AP) delivered by certified psychotherapists, (b) AP delivered by nurses, and (c) treatment as usual in a psychiatric crisis center. All subjects were recruited at the emergency room after a suicide attempt and met diagnostic criteria for borderline personality disorder and major depression. Psychotic symptoms, bipolar disorder, and mental retardation were exclusion criteria. At 3-year follow-up, 134 (78.8%) subjects had blind, reliable assessment by clinical psychologists. The intent-to-treat analysis indicated that those patients who had received AP during acute treatment had better global functioning, improved work adjustment, and less unemployment/disability at 3-year follow-up. No differences were found as a function of type of therapist delivering AP. The data confirm that short-term AP gains in psychosocial functioning are sustained over the longer term.

Misuse of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Diagnosis in Sexually Violent Predator Cases.

Supreme Court rulings supporting the constitutionality of sexually violent predator (SVP) statutes require that evaluators determine whether the rapist has a mental disorder (which justifies psychiatric commitment) or is just a common criminal (who cannot be preventively detained psychiatrically), but they offer no guidelines on making this crucial distinction. Until recently, state evaluators ignored the crucial fact that rape as a mental disorder has been roundly rejected by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) four times in the past 45 years (in DSM-III, DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5). The most common diagnosis in SVP cases was "other specified paraphilia, nonconsent," which was based on a misunderstanding and misuse of the DSM definition of "paraphilia." Sreenivasan and colleagues suggest antisocial personality disorder as an appropriate standalone diagnosis to replace "paraphilia" and report it has been allowable in 19 states, although it has been disallowed in New York state courts and in the federal courts. My contrasting view is that antisocial personality disorder is not an appropriate diagnosis in SVP cases because it overlaps almost completely with common criminality, holds only a very marginal place in psychiatric diagnosis, never serves as grounds for civil psychiatric commitment, and is never considered a valid psychiatric excuse to avoid prison for rape and therefore is not a legitimate psychiatric excuse for preventive incarceration after the criminal sentence has been served.

Whither DSM-V?

The DSM-V development process started with a grand ambition to provide a 'paradigm shift' in psychiatric diagnosis, based initially on the identification of biological markers. This is clearly unattainable, and so energy has now been diverted into developing other major changes, including the development of dimensional ratings and the formal diagnosis of prodromal and subthreshold disorders. It is argued that this process could lead to false positive 'epidemics' with harmful excessive treatments. The better, more modest, alternative is to reassess the text descriptions of the disorders and join with ICD-11 in creating a single nested system for both DSM-V and ICD-11.

Public, health professional and legislator perspectives on the concept of psychiatric disease: a population-based survey.

OBJECTIVE: To assess which mental health-related states of being are perceived as diseases by psychiatrists, non-psychiatric physicians, nurses, parliament members and laypeople. DESIGN AND SETTING: A population-based, mailed survey in Finland. PARTICIPANTS: Respondents from a random sample of 3000 laypeople, 1500 physicians, 1500 nurses and all 200 members of the parliament (MPs) of Finland. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Respondents' perspectives on 20 mental health-related states of being as diseases, measuring the extent of agreement with the claim: '[This state of being] is a disease'. RESULTS: Of the 6200 people approached, we received 3259 eligible responses (53%). Two conditions (schizophrenia and autism) were considered to be diseases by at least 75% and two states (grief and homosexuality) were considered not to be diseases by at least 75% in each group. A majority (at least 50% in each group) considered seven states as diseases (anorexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bulimia, depression, generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder and personality disorder) and three not to be diseases (absence of sexual desire, premature ejaculation and transsexualism). In six states, there was a wide divergence of opinion (alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling addiction, insomnia, social anxiety disorder and work exhaustion). Psychiatrists were significantly more inclined to considering states of being as diseases relative to other groups, followed by non-psychiatric physicians, nurses, MPs and laypeople. CONCLUSIONS: Respondents agreed that some conditions, such as schizophrenia and autism, are diseases and other states, such as grief and homosexuality, are not; for others, there was considerable disagreement. Psychiatrists are more inclined to consider mental health-related states of being as diseases compared with other physicians, who, in turn, are more inclined than other constituencies. Understanding notions of disease may underlie important debates in public policy and practice in areas of mental health and behaviour, and have implications for resource allocation and stigma.