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 - Tight code, awfully usefull.I am trained in computer programming and other sciences than medical, and was given this book by a neighbour who both suffers mental illness and was a former jail guard and political candidate for the Green Party. He found the book usefull for dealing with criminals. I myself have a disorder and used the book to explore psychology and psychiatry. As I recover I found my self with lots of disorders (whoo) and then simply read this book and knowing I was not so sick after all. It can be used correctly to rule out conditions. I then gave the book to a women friend who was studying at Harvard. I hope it could be used the way it's intentioned as it is a bit logical. A good read with much information. I found what all that pop psycology and cocktail party talk was actually about in terms of people in my life. Rating:  - Excellent reference book.This book was required reading for one of my classes in the Master's Program at Portland State University to become a Licensed Professional Counselor. I refer to it regularly as it is a required reference for other classes. It answers many questions about the various mental disorders. It is well worth having, especially if you are working in the mental health field or dealing with the mental health field in any capacity. This edition contains more information and is easier to use than the DSM-III or the DSM-IIIR, which I have also used. Rating: - DSM-IV: Neither Truth nor TripeThe DSM-IV has taken its share of knocks recently, perhapsmost powerfully from Herb Kutchins, and Stuart A. Kirk in Making UsCrazy : DSM : The Psychiatric Bible and the Creation of Mental Disorders (Free Press, 1997). Yet virtually nobody involved in any of the helping/human service professions can afford to practice without the DSM-IV, or one of its spin-offs, on his or her desk. It is rumored that lawyers have bought more copies than psychiatrists, but the American Psychiatric Press isn't telling. Full of flaws, contradictions, and sheer nonsensicalities, the DSM-IV nonetheless stands as the best the scientific world has devised in describing and diagnosing mental illnesses. People who don't believe in mental illness, who think most psychiatrists are stranger than their patients, or who think that meditation, oriental massage, or past life regression are all the solutions we need to human problems will find no comfort in the DSM-IV. Neither will those who don't consider a science to be real unless its state of development permits its concepts to be expressed in equations rather than mere language. But in a world full of nervous, despondent, deluded, nasty, selfish, withdrawn, and otherwise troubled and troublesome folks, the DSM-IV, imperfect as are the people it describes and who compiled it, is the best guide we have in trying to make sense of it all. ^M^MA 14 year old boy is depressed. Is it just a phase, or is it serious enough to require medication to prevent his suicide? A 57 year old woman starts believing that her neighbors are pumping poison gas into her apartment. Does she need a gas mask, reassurance, brain surgery, or Prozac? A 30 year old woman is fondled in a supermarket and wants five million dollars from the store's owners for the emotional suffering she will experience for the rest of her life. Is she re-experiencing traumatic episodes of childhood abuse or is she a swindler? Stunningly important questions, all. Do we have perfect answers? No way. But do we need help in grappling with them? We sure do. ^M^MThe DSM-IV is powerfully political, full of bad science, and is probably over-valued in every setting in which it isused. Yet it represents the best summary of the work of thousands of people, all struggling to solve some of the most crucial problems we face in medicine, psychology, law, and social welfare. We need the DSM-IV critics, but we also need the DSM-IV. Rating: - Mental health reference bookThis is not a book that most people would choose for an evening's relaxation in front of the fire! However, it is a reference book with which any mental health worker is familiar. It is the book that is used by them to help make a diagnosis of each client/patient (or "customer"--the more politically correct term nowadays!). Even if you, as a "customer," are not "mentally ill" you will be given a diagnostic number from this book in order for your insurance to consider payment in your behalf. Non-professionals can benefit from this book in several ways. 1) It is fascinating information for those interested in mental health. 2) If you have been given a diagnosis, you would want to know why it was given. This can help you to know enough about it that you can ask question, and perhaps protest, if you believe you were wrongly diagnosed. 3) If you have a friend or relative with mental health problems you might find insight here as to the nature of the problem. This could help you determine what kind of help or intervention you might want to seek. If you've never seen this book or its predecessor (DSM-III), you might want to look at a library copy. You probably will find at least parts of it very fascinating! Rating: - This is the definitive book for diagnosing mental disorders.The DSM-IV is the cookbook method of diagnosing mental disorders. The cookbook method is atheoetical in nature. The DSM-IV contains symptom lists, demographic, prevelance rates, and expected course of the disorder. The cookbook approach is useful for the experienced clinician because the diagnosis can be used across different theorectical treatment schools. The inexperienced clinician can be overwhelmed by the enormity of the manual. The information provided in the DSM can be useful for standardizing psychopathology research. I would recomend another introductory textbook about psychopathology as supplimentary to the DSM to groud the clinician in a particular theoretical model. Overall, I am pleased with the outcome of the DSM-IV, but I would want a more theoetical approach to supplement this cookbook of mental disorders. page 2 of 2
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