DSM-V - If accepted, will fan the flames of false positive diagnoses

DSM-IV was unwittingly responsible, says Allen Frances, for three "epidemics" of overdiagnosis.

Rates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, and childhood bipolar disorders shot up when it was published, fuelled not only by DSM-IVs more inclusive diagnostic criteria but by zealous marketing of drugs to doctors and the public.

Now DSM-V threatens worse.

It widens the criteria for several existing diagnoses and creates five new ones: binge eating, mixed anxiety depression, minor neurocognitive problems, risk of psychosis, and temper dysregulation. This could "expand the territory of mental disorder and thin the ranks of the normal," exposing vast numbers of new "patients" to avoidable harm.

Source: BMJ