Dr. Michael First

The America Psychiatric Association’s newly updated and revised Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) is the result of more than 10 years of effort by hundreds of international mental health experts. The DSM is used by clinicians and researchers to diagnose and classify mental disorders in order to improve diagnoses, treatment, and research. Dr. Michael First, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University and Research Psychiatrist at the Biometrics Department at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, explains how clinicians use the DSM, how it’s put together, and why this edition has been controversial.

The American Psychiatric Association started a two year negotiation process Tuesday, as it heard proposals for the fifth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). Columbia psychiatry professor Michael First edited the manual's fourth edition and he is critical of some of the proposals.