2010/01/20 by Dan J. Stein, K. A. Phillips, Derek Bolton +3 · 4 citations
Arts and Humanities · Psychology · Medicine · #Mental Health and Psychiatry #Personality Disorders and Psychopathology #Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/s0033291709992261
openalex publication_date 2010/01/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
The distinction between normality and psychopathology has long been subject to debate. DSM-III and DSM-IV provided a definition of mental disorder to help clinicians address this distinction. As part of the process of developing DSM-V, researchers have reviewed the concept of mental disorder and emphasized the need for additional work in this area. Here we review the DSM-IV definition of mental disorder and propose some changes. The approach taken here arguably takes a middle course through some of the relevant conceptual debates. We agree with the view that no definition perfectly specifies precise boundaries for the concept of mental/psychiatric disorder, but in line with a view that the nomenclature can improve over time, we aim here for a more scientifically valid and more clinically useful definition.