Serious questions have surfaced about the competence, procedure, and secrecy of the task force charged with the responsibility of updating the DSM, the world's diagnostic bible of mental disorders. Perhaps surprisingly, the two most vocal skeptics are former editors of the manual. In one open letter, they chide the leaders of the American Psychiatric Association for creating a "rigid fortress mentality." The critics, Robert Spitzer and Allen Frances, also insist, more damagingly, that the organization needs to "save DSM-V from itself.

I write about the dust-up in Slate today. The article, "The Diagnostic Madness of DSM-V" appears here.

• Print
• Send to friend
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

4 Reader comments join the discussion here!

Tags: allen frances, american psychiatric association, bible, competence, dsm, editors, fortress mentality, madness, mental disorders, robert spitzer, secrecy, slate, task force, vocal skeptics