New DSM nears Completion, but will there be an ebook

[kennyc]

Changes to the psychiatrists' bible, DSM: Some reactions

By Rosie Mestel

December 9, 2012, 7:14 a.m.
That big fat bible of psychiatric diagnosis — the DSM — is one step closer to its overhaul, a task that has taken more than a decade. On Dec. 1, the board of trustees of the American Psychiatric Assn. voted to approve the fifth edition of the book, which psychiatrists use to diagnose patients. The final edition is due out in May.

Among the changes:

Asperger’s disorder will no longer be classed as a separate condition but will be folded into an umbrella category called autism spectrum disorder.
Hoarding disorder is added to the book.
“Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder” is a new psychiatric category for children and adolescents who exhibit “persistent irritability and frequent episodes of behavior outbursts three or more times a week for more than a year.” Many such kids are today diagnosed with — and then medicated for — bipolar disorder, which is an issue of concern to many who work in mental health.
Identifying as transgender will no longer be listed as “gender identity disorder.” The term is replaced by “gender dysphoria,” which would refer to “emotional distress over a marked incongruence between one's experienced/expressed gender and assigned gender.” The distress is the focus, in other words, not the state of being. Many within the transgender community support this de-pathologizing, though some note it might make it harder for people who identify as transgender to receive medical services, as this article discusses.
People suffering grief had in the past been excluded for a diagnosis of depression during a certain window of time: Grief, after all, is a natural reaction to loss. That "grief exclusion" is out. The change “reflects the recognition that bereavement is a severe psychosocial stressor that can precipitate and major depressive episode beginning soon after the loss of a loved on,” the APA statement explains.
Hypersexual disorder — what’s popularly termed sex addiction — did not make it into DSM-5, though its inclusion had been debated.

“We developed DSM-5 by utilizing the best experts in the field and extensive reviews of the scientific literature and original research, and we have produced a manual that best represents the current science and will be useful to clinicians and the patients they serve,” said Dr. Dilip Jeste, the psychiatric association’s president, in a release you can read on the DSM-5 website.
....

http://www.latimes.com/health/booste...,1392058.story

and:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allen-...b_2227626.html

[kennyc]

And then there is the new diagnosis on hoarding (as in book hoarding )

Not 'crazy cat ladies': Hoarding gets new diagnosis

Las Vegas Review-Journal

At least 15 truckloads of items were hauled from Kenneth Epstein's home on Oct. 5, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
By Diane Mapes

Reality TV has brought national attention to hoarding, and now a recent change in the influential psychiatric diagnosis guide may actually bring help for millions of Americans suffering from the isolating condition.

Hoarding – a psychological condition that can result in homes crammed floor to ceiling with papers, junk mail, books, clothing and other “valuables”-- has been associated with obsessive-compulsive behavior, although experts have long held that the two disorders aren’t necessarily connected.

In the revised, fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), "hoarding disorder" becomes a separate diagnosis, characterized by a "persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, regardless of their actual value."
....

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012...diagnosis?lite

[rkomar]

Many years ago, I read about a man who filled his house with books, literally. There were narrow passageways between the heaps, and he slept on the top of one heap, just underneath the ceiling. He ended up dying from the fumes off the books while he slept, in that small, enclosed space. Hoarding gone terribly wrong. I suppose ebooks are safer that way, although probably less satisfying to such a one.

[kennyc]

E. L. Doctorow's Homer and Langley is a wonderful story of this sort of thing!

http://www.amazon.com/Homer-Langley-...5085778&sr=1-2

[Sydney's Mom]

I grew up in a hoarding home. Looking in the refrigerator was enough to stop your appetite. Couldn't find a place to sit. But there were books in only one room in the house. Three guesses.

[kennyc]

Interesting! Thanks!

[dakini]

i do hope there's an ebook of it.

i'd love to have an electronic copy i could surreptitiously consult in meetings as i try to "diagnose" the personalities!

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by rkomar

Many years ago, I read about a man who filled his house with books, literally. There were narrow passageways between the heaps, and he slept on the top of one heap, just underneath the ceiling. He ended up dying from the fumes off the books while he slept, in that small, enclosed space. Hoarding gone terribly wrong. I suppose ebooks are safer that way, although probably less satisfying to such a one.

But think of the possibilities of a house filled with ebook readers each filled with books. One could die from leaking battery fumes. I don't think you dream big enough. . .

[cromag]

Originally Posted by rkomar

Many years ago, I read about a man who filled his house with books, literally. There were narrow passageways between the heaps, and he slept on the top of one heap, just underneath the ceiling. He ended up dying from the fumes off the books while he slept, in that small, enclosed space. Hoarding gone terribly wrong. I suppose ebooks are safer that way, although probably less satisfying to such a one.

Sounds a bit like the Collyer brothers.

But it's okay to hoard ebooks, right? I just need bigger and bigger SD cards.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by cromag

Sounds a bit like the Collyer brothers.

But it's okay to hoard ebooks, right? I just need bigger and bigger SD cards.

Yep that's what Doctorow's book is based on.

[Lutraa]

Originally Posted by kennyc

And then there is the new diagnosis on hoarding (as in book hoarding )

Compulsive ebook hoarding is a pattern of behavior that is characterized by the excessive acquisition of and inability or unwillingness to discard large quantities of unread ebooks that fill ereader device storage areas and cause significant distress or impairment. Compulsive ebook hoarding behavior has been associated with health risks, impaired functioning, economic burden, and adverse effects on friends and family members. When clinically significant enough to impair functioning, ebook hoarding can prevent typical uses of time so as to limit activities such as cooking, cleaning, changing position, and sleeping. It can also be dangerous if it puts the individual or others at risk for obesity, poor hygiene, insolvency, and other health and financial concerns.

The DSM-V criteria for diagnosing ebook hoarding disorder are:

A. Building and maintaining excessively long ebook "wish lists" on OverDrive and ebook commercial vending sites.

B. Adding so many folders to Calibre that it constantly crashes.

C. Adding ebooks such as the epub version of the IRS tax code to one's ereader "because it was free."

D. Reading a dozen or more ebooks simultaneously on multiple devices.

E. Persistent difficulty in deciding which ebook to start reading next, that causes significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

(See also Compulsive eReader Acquisition Disorder and Compulsive MobileRead Forum Posting Disorder.)

[kennyc]

[Barty]

Who needs the DSM when you have reality TV? I think TLC by itself catalogues half the pathologies in the DSM.

[dakini]

Originally Posted by Barty

Who needs the DSM when you have reality TV? I think TLC by itself catalogues half the pathologies in the DSM.

that's exactly why you need to DSM-V. to play reality tv bingo with diagnostic codes.

[elemenoP]

Am I the only one who keeps reading the headline as "New DRM nears completion?"

eP