DSM

Take a close look at this stereoscopic image. If you see an asian woman holding a red book, you are schizophrenic

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, published by the American Psychiatric Association, is the handbook used most often in diagnosing mental disorders in the United States and other countries. It is also heavy enough to bludgeon a patient with if he goes mental, or is just really annoying.

Uses

Often referenced to illustrate some knowledge of psychological disorders in flame wars or consulted to create personality memes. If someone claims to be a psychology major, it is nearly guaranteed that they have encountered this book and will reference it in threads as the ultimate source of and authority on all things mental.

Mental Illness to Order

It can even be used as a checklist for people into disease whoring, with Celiac being a recently notable example[1]. There are substantiated reports of people in their late teens getting together and going through and diagnosing themselves and others in an ad-hoc manner in order to obtain prescription drugs, like marijuana. Despite the nearly legalese style in which all people specializing in psychological disorders must speak to convey the fuckitude of the stuff they deal with, which the DSM is written in, somehow the social rejects of the world find ways to excuse their failures in all things social with a few awkwardly worded passages quoted from the DSM.

Controversy

While widely accepted among psychologists and psychiatrists, the manual has proved controversial in its listing of certain characteristics as mental disorders. The most notorious example is the listing in the DSM-II of homosexuality as a mental disorder; a classification that was removed by vote of the APA in 1973 (see also homosexuality and psychology). It has yet to include Otherkin.

Asperger's "Syndrome"

No longer considered a disorder as of DSM-5, so essentially new diagnoses will be made under the rest of the Autism spectrum. Here's a link to the original article that broke the story[2].

See Also

• Disorder
• Internet Disease Chart
• Insane
• LiveWire

External link

• DSM-IV-TR online
• DSM IV Made Easy
• American Psychological Association

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DSM is part of a series on Psychology