The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is giving the public until June 15 to submit their final comments on the draft fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).
Based on the prior commenting period in 2011, members of the DSM-5 Task Force and Work Groups revised their diagnostic criteria and made other changes throughout the manual. The revised criteria also reflect updated research findings and field testing of the criteria.
Key changes during this round of public comment are as follows:
Bipolar and Related Disorders
- Hypomanic Episode: Criterion A revised to include increased energy/activity as a core symptom
- Manic Episode: Criterion A revised to include increased energy/activity as a core symptom
- Major Depressive Episode: Proposed removal of the bereavement exclusion and addition of a footnote to clarify for clinicians how to differentiate bereavement and other loss reactions from Major Depression
Depressive Disorders
- Mixed Anxiety/Depression: Proposed for Section III, a section in DSM-5 in which conditions that require further research will be included
- Major Depressive Episode: Proposed removal of the bereavement exclusion and addition of a footnote to clarify for clinicians how to differentiate bereavement and other loss reactions from Major Depression
Anxiety Disorders
- Specific Phobia: Duration criterion changed (from “The duration is at least 6 months” to “The fear, anxiety, or avoidance is persistent, typically lasting 6 or more months”) and minor wording changes
- Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia): Duration criterion changed (from “The duration is at least 6 months” to “The fear, anxiety, or avoidance is persistent, typically lasting 6 or more months”) and minor wording changes
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder: The number of associated physical symptoms has been reduced from six to two; minor wording changes
- Panic Attack: Minor wording changes
- Panic Disorder: Minor wording changes
- Agoraphobia: Duration criterion changed (from “The duration is at least 6 months” to “The fear, anxiety, or avoidance is persistent, typically lasting 6 or more months”) and minor wording changes
- Separation Anxiety Disorder: Duration criterion changed (from “The duration is at least 6 months” to “The fear, anxiety, or avoidance is persistent, typically lasting 6 or more months”; age of onset requirement has been dropped; and minor wording changes
- Addition of criteria for Substance-Induced Anxiety Disorder
- Addition of criteria for Anxiety Disorder Attributable to Another Medical Condition
- Addition of criteria for Anxiety Disorder Not Elsewhere Classified
Trauma- and Stressor- Related Disorders
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Wording changes (e.g., adding “directly” in criterion A1); PTSD in preschool children proposed as a subtype of PTSD instead of a separate diagnosis; and proposal of a dissociative symptoms subtype
- Addition of criteria for Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder: This is being proposed for Section III, a section of DSM-5 in which conditions that require further research will be included
- Addition of criteria for Trauma- or Stressor- Related Disorder Not Elsewhere Classified
Substance Use and Addictive Disorders
- Minor wording changes to most of the criteria
- Hallucinogen Disorders have now subsumed Phencyclidine Disorders
- Sedative/Hypnotic-Related Disorders renamed from Sedative, Hypnotic, or Anxiolytic Disorders
- Stimulant Disorders renamed from Amphetamine and Cocaine Disorders
- Updated the Severity Specifiers and Remission Specifiers
- Removal of Substance-Induced Dissociative Disorder
- Addition of criteria for Neurobehavioral Disorder Associated With Prenatal Alcohol Exposure: Proposed for Section III, a section of DSM-5 in which conditions that require further research will be included
- Addition of criteria for Caffeine Use Disorder: Proposed for Section III, a section of DSM-5 in which conditions that require further research will be included
- Addition of criteria for Internet Use Disorder: Proposed for Section III, a section of DSM-5 in which conditions that require further research will be included
- Addition of criteria for Drug Specific “Not Elsewhere Classified” diagnoses
Personality Disorders
- Addition of more extensive rationale for proposed changes in the diagnosis and classification of Personality Disorders
- Minor wording changes to all diagnostic criteria
For more information on the proposed DSM-5, and to make any comments, visit the DSM-5 website.