Home > Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders > Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

Nature and purposes

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disordersis a reference work consulted by psychiatrists, psychologists, physicians in clinical practice, social workers, medical and nursing students, pastoral counselors, and other professionals in health care and social service fields. The book's title is often shortened to DSM, or an abbreviation that also indicates edition, such as DSM-IV-TR,which indicates fourth edition, text revision of the manual, published in 2000. The DSM-IV-TRprovides a classification of mental disorders, criteria sets to guide the process of differential diagnosis, and numerical codes for each disorder to facilitate medical record...