The History of Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is a book that mental health professionals consult for the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.

Beginnings

• Before the first edition of the DSM appeared, the US Census in 1880 distinguished between seven different mental diagnoses. It was not until 1917 that an organization, which was the precursor to the American Psychological Association
  published the "Statistical Manual for the Use of Institutions for the Insane," which included 22 different disorders.

DSM I

• The first DSM appeared in 1952 and was patterned after the Medical 203 manual that was in use by the US Army.
  DSM I contained about 60 mental disorders and was strongly influenced by the psychodynamic approach which held that mental disorder was merely part of a continuum of human behavior and that all disorders were due to environmental causes.

DSM II

• DSM II was published in 1968 and contained 182 disorders. DSM II, as in the first edition, contained two classifications for mental disorders, distinguishing between psychosis---a break from reality---and neuroses---mainly involving depression and anxiety.

DSM III

• DSM III was published in 1980 and contained 265 diagnoses. DSM III broke from the psychodynamic model and adopted a biomedical approach to mental illness, creating a distinction between normal and abnormal behavior and adopted a multi-axial system for further classifying the disorder

DSM IV

• DSM IV was published in 1994, listing 297 disorders. DSM IV brought together up-to-date research with a greater emphasis on classifying each mental disorder.

DSM V

• DSM V is scheduled to be released in 2010.