The Book of Woe: The Making of the DSM and the Unmaking of Psychiatry

With the forthcoming fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), psychotherapist Greenberg (The Noble Lie) releases a timely critique of the process for the manual's rewriting. Drawing mainly on personal correspondence with key players working on the revision, he passionately argues that decisions regarding which categories of "illness" and their criteria for diagnosis are changed, dropped from, or added to the manual are not based on sound scientific research. Thus, he argues the primary purpose of the DSM-5 is to provide an economic foundation for the psychiatric profession as well as for pharmaceutical and health-insurance companies. He emphasizes proposed changes in the discussions of Asperger's syndrome, bereavement-related depression, bipolar disorder in children, and personality disorders.