Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is a compendium, published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), that presents a categorization of mental disorders, as well as their associated diagnostic criteria. There have been five revisions of the DSM since it was first published in 1952, with the last major revision, the DSM-IV, published in 1994. A text revision, the DSM-IV-TR, was released in 2000.
Many, like eminent Psychiatrist Thomas Szasz do not necessarily agree with the conclusions of the APA found in the DSM, and define psychiatry as "the theory and practice of coercion, rationalized as the diagnosis of mental illness and justified as medical treatment aimed at protecting the patient from himself and society from the patient."[1]
The DSM-V is currently in process, and due for publication in 2012.
See also
International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems