Hypersex to Hoarding: 7 New Psychological Disorders

 

 

Intro

The fifth and newest revision of the psychology handbook the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5, is filled with conditions you've probably heard of before, such as anxiety and amnesia, but a few conditions that might be added in the new edition may be less commonly understood.

Experts are now reviewing the new version of the book, due to be published in May 2013, and determining which new diagnoses to include.

To make the cut, a condition should have a unique set of symptoms and a verifiable medical cause, said Dr. Theodore Stern, director of psychiatric consultation at Massachusetts General Hospital and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, who is not involved in the review process.

Here are seven conditions under consideration for inclusion in the new edition.

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder

Many women are familiar with premenstrual syndrome, or PMS, which can occur a few days before the onset of a period and has a wide variety of symptoms, including mood swings, tender breasts, food cravings, fatigue, irritability and depression, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder, or PMDD, is considered a more serious condition, and may affect up to 2 million American women, according to the experts studying this condition for the DSM revision. PMDD can bring marked irritability or anger, markedly depressed mood, feelings of hopelessness, marked anxiety, tension and feelings of being "on edge."

Unless it's included in the DSM, physicians might assume the patients with PMDD are suffering from PMS or another disorder, resulting in the wrong treatment, the experts say.

Stern said this could be a case of needing to determine where to draw a line between PMS and PMDD. A larger body of research exists for this condition than some others being considered for inclusion, he added.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Preschool Children

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was first included in the DSM in 1980, and in 1987, the manual referred for the first time to trauma in children. Those working on DSM-5 are looking to emphasize how disorders differ depending on the age of the patient.

Children under age 6 who were exposed to a death or a threatened death, an actual or threatened serious injury or an actual or threatened sexual violation could have this condition, the DSM experts say. A child could have experienced such a trauma themselves or witnessed it occurring to someone else, such as a parent.

The symptoms include intrusive, distressing memories; recurrent distressing dreams and dissociative reactions in which the child feels or acts as if the traumatic events were recurring. Children with this disorder might avoid situations that remind them of the trauma, become socially withdrawn, have problems with concentration or exhibit extreme temper tantrums.

"It is possible that future research will show differences in traumatic stress responses that are due to the maturity level of the brain and nervous system, said Dr. Jeffrey P. Staab, associate professor of psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn. "For now, we do not want to overlook traumatized children in need of treatment because we lack an age-appropriate definition of their response to horrible events."

Cannabis Withdrawal


There are several disorders in the current DSM involving use or abuse of marijuana, but withdrawal is not one of them. Withdrawal from many other substances, including alcohol and cocaine, are already included in the DSM.

The experts are reviewing the research in this area to determine if withdrawal from prolonged, heavy use of marijuana is a "true" withdrawal syndrome.

The question of what is meant by withdrawal is at the heart of the debate over this disorder, Stern said, and this question is "part politics and part philosophy." Withdrawal could be defined as the physical changes brought on by removal of the substance from the body, or could include psychological symptoms, such as craving and mood swings.

After ending heavy and prolonged use of cannabis, people with this disorder have at least three symptoms such as irritability, anger or aggression; nervousness or anxiety; insomnia; decreased appetite or weight loss; or restlessness. These symptoms cause significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning, the experts say.