Many mental health practitioners find it necessary to use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) for insurance purposes but are unhappy with its basic assumptions. This raises the question—Would it be possible to devise a new classification system that (1) could be used for insurance purposes and (2) would be based on alternative principles? In the main, this commentary is pessimistic. Through considering the history of attempts to devise alternatives to the DSM, I will argue that it would be extremely difficult to develop an alternative to the DSM that could be used to fund psychotherapy via health care insurance in the United States.
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2.
American Psychiatric Association. (1968). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
3.
American Psychiatric Association. (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
4.
American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed. text revision). Washington, DC: Author.
5.
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
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7.
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11.
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12.
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13.
KutchinsH.KirkS. A. (1988). The business of diagnosis: DSM-III and clinical social work. Social Work, 33, 215-220.
14.
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RaskinJ. D.GayleM. C. (2016). DSM-5: Do psychologists really want an alternative?Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 56, 439-456. doi:10.1177/0022167815577897
17.
RubinJ. (2018). The classification and statistical manual of mental health concerns: A proposed practical scientific alternative to the DSM and ICD. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 58, 93-114. doi:10.1177/0022167817718079
18.
ShorterE. (2013). The history of DSM. In ParisJ.PhillipsJ. (Eds.), Making the DSM-5: Concepts and controversies (pp. 3-19). New York, NY: Springer.
19.
I consulted the archives of the American Psychological Association (held at the American Psychological Association offices in Washington, DC, and the Library of Congress) in 1997. Folder and Box locations were correct at this date.
20.
Board of Directors Minutes, June 24-25, 1977, in Folder “Board of Directors Minutes, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978.”
21.
Board of Directors Minutes, December 1-2, 1978, in Folder “Board of Directors Minutes, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978.”
22.
Task Force on Descriptive Behavioural Classification, July 1977, Progress Report in Box 2087627, Board of Professional Affairs.
