Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

As the definitive manual for diagnosing mental diseases, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual is utilised by medical practitioners in the United States and most of the rest of the world. DSM provides descriptions, symptoms, and other diagnostic standards for identifying mental disorders. In 1952, the American Psychiatric Association published it (DSM-I). Several nations like Australia and the United States use it. The most recent edition, DSM 5, is one of the DSM's five available iterations. DSM proves be a very important manual because it creates a standard terminology for mental health, it removes ambiguity in patients' records for treatments as well as allows researchers to convey their findings in a realm of clearly defined concepts. It also, categorises similar symptoms and causes and behaviours and helps to diagnose disorders.

There are various shortcomings of the DSM which puts a question on its credibility. The most cited problem is that the categorisation and typing of disorders by symptoms places a stronger emphasis on the most obvious or outwardly visible symptoms, neglecting potential underlying causes or less visible symptoms The importance of impairment as a factor in any diagnosis must be emphasised. The constant emergence of new diseases that have scant scientific backing in each new DSM classification is something which should be put to limelight. A disorder cannot be identified in people who exhibit all of the previously listed symptoms but do not go beyond this "threshold" of impairment, and that's a major reason why most people don't get diagnosed.  The issue of comorbidity arises from the fact that many people qualify for multiple DSM diagnoses at once.