The Fifth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Development, Review, Prospect

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) has provided a standard language that physicians, scientists, and public health specialists use to communicate about mental disorders. This guideline was revised for the first time in 1986 and its last edition (fifth edition) was published in 2013. The most important modifications in the DSM-5 include the change in font, reexamination of the definition of psychological disorder, the order of categories, considerations for lifetime growth and developmental issues, categorization of disorders with greater emphasis on neuroscience and less emphasis on symptom emergence, differentiation between main diagnosis and the reason for referral, determination of temporary or absolute diagnosis, new categories of other specified and unspecified disorders, tendency toward dimensional evaluation, decrease in diagnosis-centered system, emphasis on cultural issues, emphasis on gender issues, and reexamination of diagnosis criteria. The aim of the present article was a critical, applied, and integrated investigation into these modifications. The new version received the most criticisms regarding extreme medicalization of normal issues. The main controversies regarding this version are related to the definition of some disorders, diagnostic inflation, and inappropriate impact of drug companies. In the final section of the article, the future perspectives of psychological disorder categories are explored. It seems that the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) Project will play an important role in psychological disorder categorization in the future.