Overview of DSM-5 (REL-BHC-0-ODSM)

Course overview

The release of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) in May 2013 by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) was one of the most anticipated events in the mental health field. Although many elements from the previous version of the diagnostic manual (DSM-IV-TR) remained intact, there were significant changes; most prominently the new manual deleted the previous multi-axial system of generating a psychiatric diagnosis. The changes in the new manual were designed to take into account decades of scientific and clinical findings. The goal of this course is to provide you with a comprehensive overview of the DSM-5. You will learn about the use of a non-axial system, dimensional assessments, the revised terminology used throughout the DSM-5, cultural considerations, as well as some of the major criticisms of the revised manual. Most importantly, this course also provides you with important information on the specific diagnostic categories that are changes in the lexicon of clinical diagnostics in the DSM-5. If you have previously worked with prior versions of the DSM, this course will provide you with an overview of some critical changes that have occurred from the last version. If you have only worked with the DSM-5, this course will serve as an overview of the manual and highlight some important information of which you may be unaware, such as where you can access regular content and coding updates since the manual was published.