My chapter, “Challenges facing alternatives to the DSM,” has been published in a new volume on theoretical alternatives to the psychiatric model of diagnosis.
Challenges Facing Alternatives to the DSM
Jonathan D. Raskin
© 2024 Ethics International Press
Edited by Arnoldo Cantú, Eric Maisel, and Chuck Ruby
Abstract:
Although many psychologists are dissatisfied with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), emerging alternative diagnostic schemes seeking to supplant it face significant obstacles. Psychologists’ theoretical values favor developing a diverse set of theoretically grounded psychosocial ways to diagnose and conceptualize mental distress. However, these values conflict with psychologists’ practical need (especially in the U.S.) for a universally used diagnostic system that facilitates collection of third-party payments. The DSM and its close sibling, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), serve this practical purpose well despite being theoretically out-of-step with psychologists’ psychosocial worldview. This conflict is unlikely to be resolved any time soon, which means that the hegemony of the DSM and ICD will likely continue. Consequently, diagnostic alternatives might need to settle for supplementing rather than replacing them.