Glossary
DSM
What is the DSM?
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is the American Psychiatric Association’s classification manual, widely used in mental health care, particularly in the United States. It gives clinicians shared diagnostic criteria and researchers a common way to describe the people they study.
What it contains
The DSM describes criteria for mental disorders. Applying them requires clinical judgment; the manual is not a treatment guide, and a diagnostic category does not necessarily correspond to one distinct biological cause.
First published in 1952, the manual has been revised repeatedly. DSM-5 appeared in 2013. Its 2022 text revision, DSM-5-TR, updated text and references, clarified criteria, and added prolonged grief disorder. DSM-5 also replaced the earlier multiaxial structure, which had organized assessment across several separate dimensions.
Why it matters
Shared criteria help clinicians communicate and researchers compare findings. Diagnoses can also affect insurance coverage, access to services, and disability benefits. That makes how the categories are defined, interpreted, and used consequential far beyond the pages of the manual.