Using Dsm-Iv

DSM-IV is here, and mental health professionals—whether they applaud its rigor or decry its rigidity—will have to know how to use it. Like its predecessor, DSM-III, DSM-IV is empirically based and atheoretical. The psychodynamics of mental disorders and their etiologies are not considered. Its principal advantage is that it provides a reliable system of diagnosis. Its principal flaw is that it can lead the clinician to focus too exclusively on categorizing symptom clusters rather then on empathi…