How to Diagnose Bipolar Disorder

Topics: Bipolar Depression | Bipolar Disorder | Bipolar II | Diagnosis | DSM | Hypomania | Mania | Mixed Features | Mood

TCPR: When I ask a depressed patient if they’ve ever had manic symptoms, I often run into a problem. They say, “Of course I feel more confident, energetic, and happy ... when I’m not depressed.”Dr. Parker: As it can be hard to tease apart true hypomania from normal happiness, we’ve developed a rating scale to assist, the Sydney Bipolar Screene

Overdiagnosis in Psychiatry

Topics: Adult ADHD | Bipolar II | Borderline Personality Disorder | BPD | Diagnosis | DSM | PTSD | Stigma

TCPR: Which disorders are the most overdiagnosed in psychiatry? Dr. Paris: At the top of the list are major depression, PTSD, bipolar II, adult ADHD, and—this one is a recent addition because it used to be underdiagnosed—borderline personality disorder. Each of these conditions may be underdiagnosed in some settings as well, but they have also been

Desert Island Diagnoses

Topics: DSM | Overdiagnosis

In 1974, Drs. Donald Goodwin and Samuel Guze put forth a radical idea. They wanted to pare down the unwieldy list of psychiatric diagnoses to only the most valid: MDD Bipolar disorder Schizophrenia Panic disorder and specific phobias PTSD (provisional) OCD Anorexia and bulimia Somatization and conversion disorder Antisocial

From Infantile Autism to Autism Spectrum Disorder

Topics: Autism Spectrum Disorder | Child Psychiatry | DSM | Free Articles

Changes in diagnostic criteria not only affect the clinical and public perception of a disorder, but also its perceived prevalence. Such is the case with autism. The evolution of the autism diagnosis since it was introduced into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) in 1980 inarguably has altered its reported prevalence, rising from an estimated 1

Evolution of the Autism Diagnosis

Topics: Autism Spectrum Disorder | Child Psychiatry | DSM

CCPR: Where did autism arise, and how do we understand its evolution over the last 50 years? Dr. Volkmar: The history of autism goes back many years. There is a small literature suggesting that some of the reports of so-called “feral children” in Europe starting in the very late 1700s/early 1800s, eg, Victor, the Wild Boy of Aveyron by Itard, may

Take The CME Post-Test for Autism in Children and Adolescents, CCPR, January/February 2017

Topics: Autism Spectrum Disorder | Child Psychiatry | DSM

The post-test for this issue is available for one year after the publication date to subscribers only (December 31, 2017). By successfully completing the test you will be awarded a certificate for 2 CME credits. Click here to take your CME test. Note: All of the CME tests are available in the “My Account” section of the site when you are logg

Treating Complicated Grief: Grief-Focused Psychotherapy Is More Effective Than Citalopram

Topics: Depressive Disorder | DSM | Psychopharmacology Tips | Research Updates

Treating Complicated Grief: Grief-Focused Psychotherapy Is More Effective Than Citalopram

Topics: Depressive Disorder | DSM | Psychopharmacology Tips | Research Update

Review of: Shear M et al, JAMA Psychiatry, 2016;73:685–694; Study type: Randomized placebo-controlled trial Complicated grief (CG) is a relatively common response in those who have suffered the loss of a loved one. In DSM-5, it is listed in the section on conditions for further study, and it is called “persistent complex bereavement disorder.”

ICD-10: What You Need to Know

Topics: DSM | Practice Tools and Tips

On October 1, 2015, you had to start using ICD-10 codes for reporting diagnoses in order to get paid by insurance companies. But what does ICD-10 mean? And how does it relate to DSM-5? ICD-10 stands for “International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition.” First published in 1900, ICD is a list of diseases in all medical specialties. It has b

The Diagnosis and Treatment of Hoarding Disorder [Free Article]

Topics: DSM | Psychotherapy

The Autism Diagnostic Shuffle

Topics: Autism Spectrum Disorder | Child Psychiatry | DSM

Autism is the poster child for the dramatic effects that changes in diagnostic criteria can have on apparent prevalence rates of disorders. CDC reports that the prevalence of autism was 0.05% in 1980, vs. 1.5% in 2015—a 30-fold increase. Most agree that diagnostic changes, especially DSM-4, drove this “epidemic.” Let’s look at the three most imp

Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)

Topics: DSM | Neuroscience in Psychiatry | Understanding Psychiatric Research

The “Whole-Patient” Approach to Psychiatric Diagnosis

Topics: DSM | Practice Tools and Tips

This month marks the one-year anniversary of the publication of DSM-5. Designed as an atheoretical research tool to establish a reliable and consistent way to make psychiatric diagnoses without any comment as to their underlying cause, the DSM has become the go-to clinical diagnostic resource for mental health professionals. Unfortunately, many are u

The Trouble with DSM-5

Topics: DSM | Practice Tools and Tips

The Diagnosis and Treatment of Hoarding Disorder

Topics: DSM | Psychotherapy

Hoarding has become a subject of widespread fascination in the last decade, with frequent exposure in popular media and an exponential increase in research on the topic. Reality television has drawn the public eye to compelling stories of people who can’t throw anything away and fill their houses with everything from piles of old newspapers to

Diagnostic Comorbidity in DSM-5: More of the Same

Topics: Child Psychiatry | DSM | Free Articles

The epidemic of psychiatric comorbidity has been a problem since DSM-III appeared way back in 1980. Not much has been done to improve this area in the subsequent editions of the manual. Nonetheless, in this article we’ll explore psychiatric comorbidity in DSM-5: its origins, current status, and potential solutions for the next go-around. Comorbidity

PTSD in DSM-5

Topics: Child Psychiatry | DSM

“The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of psychological trauma.” Judith Lewis Herman, MD, Trauma and Recovery Unfortunately, children are exposed to traumatic events—isolated ones such as natural disasters or serious accidents, and recurring traumas such as domestic viol

The Problem with Child Psychiatry in DSM-5

Topics: Child Psychiatry | DSM

In Defense of Child Psychiatry: A Note from the Editors We, the editorial board, do not feel that Dr. Frances’s assessment of child psychiatrists or child psychiatric practice is entirely correct. Inappropriate and excessive use of medication is a real concern, however, and the solution is, in our view, two-fold. First, because primary care phys

DSM-5: Clinical and Financial Implications

Topics: DSM | Free Articles | Substance Abuse

The new DSM-5 will change the way clinicians diagnose substance use disorders (SUD) and could have far-reaching consequences for patients seeking treatment and clinicians and organizations offering that treatment. Various proposals for addiction were batted around during the DSM-5 revision process. The final version changed the diagnostic criteria for S

Addiction Through the Decades: From DSM-I to DSM-5

Topics: DSM | Substance Abuse

Addiction has been around seemingly forever. However, how we have conceptualized it, has changed considerably over time. The release of the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) in May 2013 marks yet another shift in how clinicians diagnose substance use disorders (SUDs