We may be on the cusp of a major paradigm shift in our thinking
about psychiatric disorders. The proposed revision of the
American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual (DSM) of Mental Disorders franchise for the classification
and diagnosis of human distress, which will lead to the 5th
edition (DSM-V), has served as a catalyst for a wide range of
criticism (most notably at www.ipetitions.com/petition/dsm5/).
This has identified serious inadequacies in the specific proposed
revisions, and has also highlighted scientific, philosophical, practical
and humanitarian weaknesses in the diagnostic approach to
psychological well-being, underpinning the DSM. This debate
provides the opportunity to propose a more scientific grounded
and clinically useful system.