DSM5Kriterien

DSM5Kriterien refer to the diagnostic criteria used in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition), published by the American Psychiatric Association in 2013. The DSM-5 provides standardized criteria for the identification and classification of mental disorders and is widely used by clinicians, researchers, and health systems. A revised text, DSM-5-TR, appeared in 2022, incorporating updates and clarifications based on new evidence.

In many disorders the DSM-5 criteria are organized into criteria sets that guide diagnosis. A typical structure involves a core symptom cluster (often labeled criterion A), additional required features (B and sometimes C), and considerations such as duration, impairment or distress, and ruling out other conditions (and sometimes differential diagnosis). Many disorders also include specifiers that describe course, onset, severity, or accompanying features, helping to capture heterogeneity within a diagnostic category. The manual emphasizes cultural context through the Cultural Formulation Interview and related cultural concepts of distress.

Purpose and use of the DSM-5 criteria include supporting clinical diagnosis, guiding treatment planning, aiding communication among professionals, and informing research and administrative activities such as billing. The criteria are intended to be descriptive and phenomenological, not prescriptive treatment guidelines, and they are regularly reviewed and updated in subsequent editions or revisions to reflect advances in science and clinical practice.

Limitations and critiques include concerns about reliability and validity for some disorders, cultural and individual variation, potential stigmatization, and the influence of DSM criteria on clinical practice. The DSM-5 criteria represent one framework among several in psychiatric assessment.