1994 Articles

Do you have a spiritual disorder?

Russell, Roberta

The newest version of the psychiatrist's bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (commonly known as the DSM-IV) was officially unveiled on May 21, 1994 at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. Sixteen thousand of the 38,000 member-psychiatrists assembled in Philadelphia to commemorate the 150th anniversary of their organization. Although the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) is the treatment bible in the UK, research is international now, and the DSM-IV categories are indexed to those of the ICD-10 so that they can be translated into a common international parlance in order to facilitate the communication of research findings and diagnoses. This event heralded hosts of new disorders, while eliminating others. Among the most enigmatic of the newly defined maladies we find spiritual disorder.