DSM-5® Handbook of Differential Diagnosis

by Michael B. First MD

Overview

The DSM-5 Handbook of Differential Diagnosis is the preeminent guide to differential diagnosis for both clinicians and students learning psychiatric diagnosis. Based closely on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, it offers a rich selection of perspectives in an easy-to-use format. The author, an expert on psychiatric diagnosis and assessment, recognizes that psychological distress cannot be reduced to a rubric. The clinician must have empathy, listening skills, the ability to identify symptoms and contextualize them, and a familiarity with the body of knowledge represented by DSM-5. The handbook brings these critical skills together in a well-written, accessible, and reader-friendly volume that is grounded in the latest research and standard of practice.

The handbook offers an assortment of approaches to differential diagnosis, and a number of features designed to benefit clinicians in the exam room, including:

• A six-step framework for diagnosing patients that proceeds from determining if the symptom is real to establishing the boundary between disorder and normality, with intermediary steps to rule out substance etiology and medical conditions, as well as to determine the primary disorder and to differentiate adjustment disorders from other mental disorders.• Twenty-nine symptom-oriented decision trees that provide detailed decision points to facilitate the process of generating the differential diagnosis based on the presenting symptoms and eliminate formulating premature conclusions.• Sixty-six differential diagnosis tables, one for each of the most important DSM-5 disorders, cross-referenced with the terminal branches of the decision trees presented in the handbook to provide a head-to-head comparison of each disorder, highlighting similarities and differences.• The DSM-5 classification, to facilitate coding and to provide an overview of all of the DSM-5 diagnoses that must be considered in formulating a differential diagnosis.• Alphabetical indexes of the decision trees and differential diagnosis tables to help readers readily locate desired material.

DSM-5 Handbook of Differential Diagnosis provides a comprehensive overview of the process of diagnosing DSM-5 disorders while serving as a reference guide to assist in the differential diagnosis of individual patients. The handbook is an invaluable addition to the DSM-5 collection and an important contribution to the mental health profession.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781585624621
Publisher:	American Psychiatric Association Publishing
Publication date:	11/19/2013
Pages:	338
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 12.70(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Michael B. First, M.D., is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University and a Research Psychiatrist in the Division of Clinical Phenomenology at the New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York, New York.

Table of Contents

PrefaceChapter 1. Differential Diagnosis Step by StepChapter 2. Differential Diagnosis by the TreesChapter 3. Differential Diagnosis by the TablesAppendix: DSM-5 ClassificationAlphabetical Index of Decision TreesAlphabetical Index of Differential Diagnosis Tables

Editorial Reviews

The novice and intermediate-level clinician will likely find this an essential manual, whereas the seasoned practitioner may find it more worthwhile as a reference book for the occasional diagnostic puzzle or clinical blind spot.

Academic Psychiatry - Michael D. Jibson and Lisa S. Seyfried

Reviewer: Steven T. Herron, MD (Assurance Health and Wellness)
Description: This brief work accompanies the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), 5th edition (American Psychiatric Publishing, 2013), and expands on the decision-making process involved with assigning a psychiatric diagnosis.
Purpose: Meant as an adjunct to the DSM-5, the author explains use of this book "should improve your skill in formulating a comprehensive differential diagnosis by presenting the problem from a number of different perspectives."
Audience: Though useful for anyone interested in the specifics of psychiatric diagnosis, this work is geared mostly to clinicians who evaluate and treat individuals with various mental health issues. However, as the author notes, "the approaches outlined here are meant to enhance and not replace the central role of clinical judgment and the wisdom of accumulated experience."
Features: Chapter 1 is, perhaps, the most useful and beneficial for readers, as it explores developing a differential diagnosis with a step-by-step process, in written form, using a "six-step diagnostic framework." The remainder of the book contains both diagnostic diagrams and tables to examine a comprehensive and systematic approach to creating a psychiatric diagnosis. An appendix also contains the ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes for the major mental health diagnoses.
Assessment: There are few works that address differential diagnosis while so clearly guided by another book, in this case the DSM-5. The true value of this book is following the author through the steps in the process of developing a working diagnosis for a patient with mental health issues. Though using the DSM-5's criteria is, in and of itself, not particularly complicated, when infused with the myriad of challenges (comorbidities and concurrent medical problems to name a few) of working with patients in a clinical setting, using a systematic approach becomes all the more vital. This book accompanies the DSM-5 well and is great for educational purposes.

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