psychology: strengths and weaknesses of DSM-IV

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is currently the most frequently used way of standardising and defining psychological disorders. However, the classification systems such as DSM have advantages and disadvantages. The major weakness of DSM is that it judges symptoms superficially and ignores other possible important factors. The major strength of DSM is that it enables categorisation of psychological disorders.

DSM is extremely useful for diagnosis of psychological disorders, due to current updates. The first edition of DSM was published, in 1952 by the American Psychiatric Association (Gray, 2002). Both the first and second editions had numerous categories for diagnosing based on unsubstantiated assumptions. DSM is presently in it is fourth edition which provides a “compact encapsulated description of each disorder” with a strong empirical base (American Psychiatric Association, 2003). The primary purpose of DSM according to the American Psychiatr...