{"id":13935,"date":"2012-08-31T14:49:25","date_gmt":"2012-08-31T21:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/?page_id=13935"},"modified":"2026-02-13T19:33:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T00:33:30","slug":"diagnostic-and-statistical-manual-dsm","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/diagnostic-and-statistical-manual-dsm\/","title":{"rendered":"Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"dsm-5\"The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders<\/strong>, commonly abbreviated as the DSM<\/em>, is a book published by the American Psychiatric Association providing standardized criteria to the diagnosis<\/a> of mental health conditions. The DSM<\/em> is used widely by mental health practitioners in the United States to aid in diagnosing clients. For many decades, there was immense concern that psychiatric diagnoses were based upon the whims of psychiatric professionals and were not scientifically valid. Different practitioners might give the same client completely different diagnoses, which in turn would result in different standards and courses of treatment. The DSM<\/em> is an attempt to correct for this potential problem.<\/p>\n

Revisions to the DSM<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Originally published in 1952 based upon data from psychiatric hospitals and practicing mental health clinicians, the DSM<\/em> has undergone several revisions. The current incarnation of the DSM<\/em> is the DSM-5<\/em>, which was finalized December 1, 2012 and released in May 2013. It replaced the DSM-IV<\/em>, which was published in 1994 and revised in 2000. You can find the latest in DSM<\/em> news at https:\/\/www.psychiatry.org\/dsm5<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How Is the DSM<\/em> Organized?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The DSM-5 <\/i>is organized into three sections, with 20 chapters that address specific disorders. The chapters are arranged based on common features among disorders. The DSM-5 <\/i>dispensed with the multi-axial system used in the DSM-IV<\/i>.<\/p>\n