DSM-5 Draft Criteria Available for Public Comment through April 20

The American Psychiatric Association is seeking your comments on proposed criteria for the fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health and other health professionals for diagnostic and research purposes. Proposed DSM-5 draft criteria will be available for review and comment at www.DSM5.org from February 10 to April 20, 2010. Health professionals, mental health consumers and family members are invited to visit the site to review and comment on the draft criteria.

DSM-5 remains a work in progress: following the public comment period, the DSM-5 Task Force and Work Groups will spend two years reviewing and refining proposed criteria based on public comments and the results of field trials, which will be conducted in three phases to test some of the proposed diagnostic criteria in real-world clinical settings. The release of the final DSM-5 is expected in May 2013. For more information, visit www.DSM5.org.

February 4, 2010

Dear Dr.Eva Szigethy,

The American Psychiatric Association is reviewing and updating Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health and other health professionals for diagnostic and research purposes. We are now at an important stage in that development process — a stage in which we need the input of health and medical organizations such as yours.

The last edition of DSM was published in 1994. Since then, the fields of neuroscience and behavioral science have made great strides in research. In the initial phase of revising DSM, the APA engaged almost 400 international research investigators in 13 NIH supported conferences beginning in 2000. In 2007, the APA announced the formation of the DSM-5 Task Force and 13 Work Groups, which include more than 160 world-renowned clinicians and researchers with expertise in neuroscience, biology, genetics, statistics, epidemiology, public health, nursing, pediatrics and social work. The task force and work groups built on the previous seven years of scientific reviews, conducting additional focused reviews, and accepting input from a wide range of advisors as the basis for proposing draft criteria.

On Wednesday, February 10, 2010, the APA will announce the proposed draft diagnostic criteria for DSM-5. These will be posted on the Web site www.DSM5.org for public review and comment until April 20, 2010. We invite members of your organization to review the draft criteria when they become available. Because DSM is widely used by so many health care professionals in a variety of care settings, your input is crucial.

It is important to note that the proposed draft criteria are being considered for field trials and are not final criteria for DSM-5, which is still very much a work in progress. Following the public comment period, the proposed criteria will be reviewed and refined. In addition, the APA will conduct three phases of field trials to test some of the proposed diagnostic criteria in real-world clinical settings. The work groups will propose final criteria in 2012 for approval to the APA’s Assembly and Board of Trustees. The release of the final DSM-5 is expected in May 2013.

The APA’s goal is to create a DSM-5 that is based on the best science available and that is useful to the clinicians who diagnose and treat mental disorders. To reach that goal, we are striving to create a process that is both inclusive and informative. We look forward to your participation, and hope you share this information with others in your organization. To make this easy for you, we have developed a sample article (on the next page) about the DSM-5 public review and comment period for use as appropriate in your organization’s newsletter, on your Web site or in member letters or emails. We think your members will appreciate the opportunity to participate in this process. We look forward to hearing from you; if you have any questions, please contact Jaime Valora, 703.907.8562, jvalora@psych.org.

Alan Schatzberg, M.D.
President, American Psychiatric Association

James H. Scully, Jr., M.D.
Medical Director and CEO, American Psychiatric Association

David J. Kupfer, M.D.
Chair, DSM-5 Task Force

Darrel A. Regier, M.D., M.P.H.
Vice-Chair, DSM-5 Task Force