Thoughts about Dr. First and Dr. Hyman’s DSM 5 Statements

This essay will encompass personal analysis regarding statements communicated by Dr. Michael First, a psychiatrist at New York Presbyterian Hospital and Professor at Columbia University. Also, this paper will comment on concepts expressed by “Dr. Steven Hyman, former Director of the National Institute of Mental Health and Director of Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute” (PBS NewsHour 2013). The topics conveyed by these professionals were focused on the Diagnosis Statistical Manual version five (DSM 5) and its significance to the diagnosis of mental health patients. While many health professionals regard the DSM-5 as their source of life on the job, this essay will support a combination of the idea Dr. First and Dr. Hyman express. Particularly, DSM 5 should be utilized as a reference tool while grounding the final results and diagnosis on the educated judgment and experience of the human health professional.

An established written document should be implemented in any business. Dr. First’s preliminary comments on the prominence of the DSM-5 was defining and practical, as it only stated the usage of the manual and its importance to health professionals while serving as a general guideline across the field (PBS NewsHour, 2013). Otherwise, results amongst professionals would vary and differ; thus, resulting in inconsistency across the field. The use of the DSM-5 provides order, information, and consistency for healthcare professionals. Furthermore, as Dr. First expressed, the manual is an excellent tool to initiate the basic guide for health professionals to know at which point to commence any future treatment (PBS NewsHour 2013). This analysis does not support the DSM-5 as the dictator of treatment selection; however, it supports the idea of having what can be viewed as a basic and standard operating procedure, which includes all of the mental health disorders and its symptoms.

Some controversies exist regarding the validity and credibility of the DSM-5. Comments against the manual argue that health care professionals should not provide a serious diagnosis based solely on the printed text. In the research published by Dušan Kecmanović in 2011, controversies about the rigid application of the DSM were based on the firm trust and application healthcare professionals placed on the manual (p. 1). The after effect involved friends, families, colleagues and other crucial aspects of the patient’s life (Kecmanović, 2011, p.1). As. Dr. First responds, the imperfections of the DSM are due to the limitations of human knowledge since the information gathered in the disorders were gathered by human professionals (PBS NewsHour, 2013). Such a statement solidifies the fact that the DSM 5 is not a robotic computerized tool. As Dr. Hymen stated, the human brain is the most complicated organ in the body; thus, this essay believes that a plethora of human brain studies and research will continue to be executed (PBS NewsHour 2013). The manual is a book that was constructed by the research of human beings. Nonetheless, the more science advances, the more variations professionals will see in their findings, resulting in additional modifications to the manual; thus, creating new versions and adding to the foundations of psychology.

Ultimately, this essay was written in favor of the collective concepts of Dr. First and Dr. Hyman. Healthcare professionals should not diagnose and execute treatments based solely on the textual information of the DSM 5. The manual should be taken with a high degree of respect and importance; however, final conclusions should be assessed by the research expressed in the manual, the professional’s knowledge, and experience. Dr. Hyman seems to have a central focus on the lives of patients and how it can be altered after receiving a diagnosis. In the end, human patients are at risk of being positively or negatively affected after a diagnosis has been executed. Once a diagnosis has been given, it will not change when a new version of the DSM is released.

References

KecmanovicÌ, D. (2011). Towards a definition of mental disorder. Controversies and Dilemmas in Contemporary Psychiatry (p. 1). New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers.

PBS NewsHour. (2013, May 20). What DSM-5 means for diagnosing mental health patients. YouTube. Retrieved February 18, 2014, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j67-uC8icNE