Discuss the limitations of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5).

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The limitations of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), are as follows:

Critics of the DSM argue that labeling an individual as abnormal provides a dehumanizing, lifelong stigma. For example, many political contenders have had their candidacies terminated because of the disclosure that they received treatment for severe psychological disorders. Furthermore, after an initial diagnosis has been made, mental health professionals, who may concentrate on the initial diagnostic category, could overlook other diagnostic possibilities.

Although the DSM-5 was developed to provide more accurate and consistent diagnoses of psychological disorders, it is not always successful. For instance, critics charge that it relies too much on the medical perspective. Because it was drawn up by psychiatrists-who are physicians-some condemn it for viewing psychological disorders primarily in terms of the symptoms of an underlying physiological disorder. Moreover, critics suggest that DSM-5 compartmentalizes people into inflexible, all-or-none categories rather than considering the degree to which a person displays psychologically disordered behavior.