Current Psychiatry Reviews - Volume 8, Issue 4, 2012

Since the introduction of DSM-III in 1980 the prevalence of mental disorder increased dramatically. Recent figures suggest that about one third of youth and almost half of the adult population meet the criteria for at least one mental disorder in their lifetime. At least three interacting pressures contribute to diagnostic inflation of mental disorders: 1) the aggressive marketing strategies of drug companies, 2) reification of categor Read More

The imprecise wording of DSM-IV led to an abusive use of the Paraphilia NOS diagnosis to hospitalize sexual predators for indefinite periods of time through Sexually Violent Predator statues. DSM-5 has threatened to compound the error of DSM-IV through the addition of three diagnosis that invite forensic abuse: ‘coercive paraphilia’, ‘hypersexuality’, and ‘hebephilia’. This article reviews that status of those three diagnoses, a Read More

Dimensional measures have certain advantages over categorical diagnosis of personality disorders, but suffer from problems of their own. The limitations of the proposed DSM-5 system are based on three doubtful assumptions: that disorders are nothing but exaggerated traits, that clinicians can make reliable and valid trait ratings, and that a highly complex system will have clinical utility.

DSM-5 is considering adding a diagnostic category for young people who may be at higher risk of developing schizophrenia. Changing what otherwise would be risk factors for a future disease onset into a disease into its own right would open up floodgates for inappropriate and potentially harmful exposure to antipsychotic medication. The “at risk” population would not benefit from receiving a formal diagnosis b Read More

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is the most frequently used book in the mental health professions. Psychiatric and non-psychiatric mental health professionals alike have depended on the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to develop credible and sound manuals; however, the DSM-5's proposals to include potentially dangerous, scientifically unfounded diagnoses may lead professionals to Read More

The draft DSM-5 proposes multiple new disorders, and broadens the diagnostic criteria of existing disorders. This will lead to inappropriate diagnosis, resulting in misallocation of healthcare resources, with inevitable opportunity costs. In particular, it will result in inappropriate and potentially harmful prescribing of antipsychotics and other psychotropic drugs. Among the disorders that are likely to be inappropriately Read More

Because illness is a social construction, doctors are inescapably agents of social control, and diagnoses are inescapably a means to exercise power. Psychiatric diagnoses therefore shape identity according to whatever ideology provides the definition of mental health and illness, and they do so with the authority of science. This function of diagnosis is ambivalent. A disease label can be a ticket to social resources, but it can also b Read More

Problematic computer use is a growing social issue which is being debated worldwide. Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) ruins lives by causing neurological complications, psychological disturbances, and social problems. Surveys in the United States and Europe have indicated alarming prevalence rates between 1.5 and 8.2% [1]. There are several reviews addressing the definition, classification, assessment, epidemiolog Read More

Despite its unambiguous advantages, cellular phone use has been associated with harmful or potentially disturbing behaviors. Problematic use of the mobile phone is considered as an inability to regulate one's use of the mobile phone, which eventually involves negative consequences in daily life (e.g., financial problems). The current article describes what can be considered dysfunctional use of the mobile phone and emphasiz Read More

Gaming addiction has become a topic of increasing research interest. The last decade has witnessed a significant increase in the number of empirical studies examining various aspects of problematic video game play and video game addiction. This paper begins with a brief past history of how research into video game addiction has changed over the last three decades (i.e., the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s). It then examine Read More

Eating disorders and infertility are both common among women in industrialized countries, and eating disorders (most notably anorexia nervosa) have long been considered to significantly reduce fertility. Especially since eating disorders are often undiagnosed, routine screening has been widely suggested when infertile women present for investigation or treatment. This paper reviews fertility of women with current, or a hi Read More

Objective: To examine the role of attachment and mentalization in eating disorders, as investigated using the Adult Attachment Interview. Method: A review of literature has been conducted in the Medline, Psychinfo, Embase and Cochrane databases. Results: Ten empirical research articles were found. Outcomes show a higher frequency of insecure attachment classifications in patients compared to a non-clinical population. No c Read More

The stress-vulnerability model of schizophrenia is contemporary psychiatry's common explanation of how the symptoms of schizophrenia develop and evolve over time. Although the model has variants, its fundamental tenets are that the onset and course of schizophrenia result from a person's vulnerability, usually argued to be genetic, in conjunction with sufficient stress, as experienced by that person. In this paper, we Read More