Natalie Banner |
In a previous post, Rachel Cooper talked about the potential advantages of the ambiguity offered
by the DSM-5 definition of mental disorder. I very much agree that the
stipulation of necessary and sufficient conditions is unlikely to succeed in
mapping such complex messy and controversial phenomena as “mental disorders”. However, I am unsure whether in this particular case an
ambiguous definition is quite so benign as Rachel implies. It is true that few
clinicians will pay attention to the introductory text, being more concerned
with the features of the diagnosis they are dealing with at any particular
moment, but this is not to say that the definition provided is not an important and influential part of the manual.