From Psychology Today blogger Christopher Lane: “Just two weeks before DSM-5 is due to appear, the National Institute of Mental Health, the world’s largest mental health research institute, has announced that it is withdrawing support for the manual. In a humiliating blow to the American Psychiatric Association, Thomas R. Insel, M.D., Director of the NIMH, made clear the agency would no longer fund research projects that rely exclusively on DSM criteria.”
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Nice piece, it includes some related links to stories also worth reading. Thanks for posting.
While many others have been making the same assertions for years, I wonder if Insel’s admission will “tip the scales” towards more widespread acknowledgement that we have a problem regarding so called mental illnesses.
It’s important to note that the DSM is not a-theoretical (regardless of claims to the contrary). By saying the DSM is not valid, it also implies that the theory/theories underpinning the DSM are not valid and further, the assumptions underpinning the theory/theories are not valid. Again this has been said for many many years. If you start with mistaken assumptions you’re most likely going to end with a mess. The computer expression, “garbage in, garbage out” comes to mind.
Fascinating development.
