Diagnosis in psychiatry; a piece of cake?

Abstract

SummaryThe unrestricted use of the DSM as diagnostic instrument for psychiatric disorders results in an arbitary and over the time inconsistent application of labels whether or not accompanied by the adjective NOS. Moreover, the European psychiatric tradition is often regarded as irrelevant and the results from modern genetics, behavioural neurology and other neuroscience research are not considered. The neuropsychiatric paradigm and the need to focus on psychological dysfunctions and their putative neurobiological substrate are discussed on the basis of four case reports. This paper illustrates the pitfalls of a careless use of the DSM.