Changes in the DSM-5 on Bipolar Disorder

Changes in the DSM-5 on Bipolar Disorder Bipolar Disorder Print Changes in the DSM-5 for Bipolar Disorder By Marcia Purse Marcia Purse is a mental health writer and bipolar disorder advocate who brings strong research skills and personal experiences to her writing. Learn about our editorial policy Marcia Purse Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on August 05, 2016 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on January 03, 2020 Bipolar Disorder Overview Symptoms & Diagnosis Causes Treatment Living With In Children Your Rights The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)?? is published by the American Psychiatric Association  and contains the formal requirements for classifying and diagnosing mental illnesses. You will often find references to both the fourth and fifth editions of the DSM. The DSM-IV was published in 1994 and the DSM-5 replaced it in 2013. The importance of the DSM is that it contains diagnostic codes for mental illnesses, similar to those for physical illnesses. For example, if a doctor orders blood tests and gives you a paper to take to the lab, the lab may insist that there be a diagnostic code on the order  because they have to provide it to your insurance company. Its the same with mental illnesses: a psychiatrist cant simply tell your insurance, This patient has bipolar disorder. He has to give them a specific code for the type of bipolar disorder. History of the DSM The first edition of the DSM was published in 1952, listing 66 disorders. Each of these included a shortlist of symptoms, along with some information about suspected causes. The 1968 version contained 100 disorders, and in 1979, the third edition shifted away from psychoanalytic emphasis, contained over 200 diagnostic categories and introduced the multi-axial system (Axis I to Axis V). Axis I - Clinical Disorders (including bipolar disorder)Axis II - Personality Disorders and Mental RetardationAxis III - General Medical ConditionsAxis IV - Psychosocial and Environmental Problems (stressors)Axis V - Global Assessment of Functioning DSM-IV was first published in 1994, and a revised edition in 2000, called the DSM-IV-TR (though the TR, or text revision, often wasnt included in articles referencing the manual). While sticking with the Axis system, this edition broke diagnoses and symptoms down into sections or decision trees. Heres a quick example: Symptoms that must be included.There must be three or more symptoms present from a list:Symptom ASymptom BSymptom CSymptom DSymptom EA condition that must not be present. Changes in DSM-5 Published in 2013, the DSM-5 makes many changes, some of them controversial, some not. The most obvious of these is that its called the DSM-5 instead of DSM-V. Switching from Roman to Arabic numerals means that, instead of using the cumbersome system in which the 2000 edition was called DSM-IV-TR, any revisions can now be called DSM-5.1, etc., making things much clearer. A significant change is that the Axis system has been dropped. Instead, there are 20 chapters containing categories of related disorders. Bipolar and Related Disorders is one category. Other examples are: Anxiety DisordersObsessive-Compulsive and Related DisordersDepressive DisordersFeeding and Eating DisordersPersonality Disorders One of the biggest controversies is that Aspergers syndrome, a diagnosis related to autism, has been eliminated. Many parents whose children are now diagnosed with Aspergers fear their children will lose services that the diagnosis currently qualifies them for. A number of other changes have been made to pediatric disorders that have caused widespread controversy, even causing at least one psychiatrist to resign from the DSM-5s Child and Adolescent Disorders workgroup. Bipolar Disorder in the DSM-5 Even though childhood bipolar disorder has been well-defined and used (though not listed in the DSM-IV) for many years, pediatric bipolar disorder is not a new diagnosis in the DSM-5. Instead, children with such symptoms will most likely fall into either the category of Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders, or into a diagnosis that is part of the category of Depressive Disorders, called Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder. How this plays out remains to be seen. For adult bipolar disorder, there are now five possible diagnoses: C 00 Bipolar I DisorderC 01 Bipolar II DisorderC 02 Cyclothymic DisorderC 03 Substance-Induced Bipolar DisorderC 04 Bipolar Disorder Associated with Another Medical ConditionC 05 Bipolar Disorder Not Elsewhere Classified Changes include: Elimination of Mixed Episode. Instead, a manic, hypomanic or depressive episode can be specified as With Mixed Features, a specifier with its own definition in the manual.The Bipolar II diagnosis in the DSM-IV excluded a history of mixed episodes. This exclusion has been removed, an important change.In addition, a subtle change is that the word abnormally was not included in Criterion A for a hypomanic episode, while it was in Criterion A for a manic episode. This brings the full criteria for the two distinct types of episodes much closer together. Each type of bipolar disorder has what are called specifiers (such as With Mixed Features, above) that further clarify the illness. Noteworthy is that two of the specifiers in the DSM-IV-TR that have been removed are In Full Remission and In Partial Remission. Current Diagnostic Criteria for Bipolar Disorders and Episodes Until the DSM-5 is actually published, the official diagnostic criteria are: 1. For Bipolar Disorder: Bipolar I DisorderBipolar II DisorderCyclothymic Disorder (Cyclothymia)Bipolar Not Otherwise Specified 2. Episodes: ManicHypomanicDepressiveMixed (eliminated in the DSM-5)