Abstract

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders has elicited numerous criticisms throughout its history. Its particularly controversial status has not been resolved by the recent release of the DSM-5 ; rather, the new edition has amplified debates in psychiatry as well as philosophy and the wider public. To a certain extent, such controversies are to be expected because of the influential role the DSM plays in science and health care. Researchers have often been required to use the DSM classification to get funded and published, clinicians need to use it for diagnosis, and patients need a DSM code to get reimbursed for treatment.1 Classification in psychiatry shapes the course of research...