Allan V. Horwitz, DSM: A History of Psychiatry's Bible Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 2021. Pp. 232. ISBN 978-1-4214-4069-9. $37.00 (hardcover).
Year: 2024
Type: book-review
Abstract: DSM: A History of Psychiatry's Bible presents a comparatively short and authoritative history of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual series.Although it is a history of the DSM as a whole, Horwitz's book could have been called The Rise and Legacy of the DSM-III.Previous editions of the manual are framed as the context for the sea change the DSM-III caused, while later editions are discussed in terms of how they altered (or failed to alter) it.Horwitz speeds through the first two DSM editions in a single chapter before embarking on a far more thorough account of the groundbreaking and ambitiously expanded DSM-III.The DSM-III-R and DSM-IV are characterized as continuations of the DSM-III project and treated together.The penultimate chapter recounts how the DSM-5 set out with revolutionary aspirations but ended up differing little from its predecessors.The last chapter, which also serves as a general conclusion, considers the DSM as a socially situated document that reflects the ongoing interaction between psychiatry and the world at large.In providing an overarching history of the DSM, Horwitz has created an invaluable resource.In his preface, he contrasts his work with earlier books (most notably Hannah Decker's The Making of DSM-III (2013)) that focus on particular editions of the manual, emphasizing that what sets his own text apart is its broad scope.This breadth inevitably comes at some cost.DSM tends towards whistlestop tour rather than in-depth analysis.For readers who already have some familiarity with the DSM series, the conciseness of Horwitz's text is an attractive feature; the pacy discussion gives a compelling sense of the competition and compromise that forged each edition.For readers with less prior knowledge, Horwitz's text may best be read with an open search box on hand.In Horwitz's telling, the DSM-I and II were psychoanalytically inflected texts of little importance; they provided categories that could be used for record-keeping, but had little broader influence on psychiatric research, clinical practice or culture.Robert Spitzer, working alongside a close-knit group of psychiatric researchers whose primary motive was to develop classifications suited for research, spearheaded the DSM-III revolution.On its publication, it turned out that the DSM-III system furthered the aims of a variety of interest groups, both within and without psychiatry.The scientific-looking categories of the DSM-III made psychiatry appear closely aligned with the rest of medicine, increasing the status of researchers, clinicians and funders.Patients found DSM labels useful for accessing medical care and services, as well as gaining self-understanding.Pharmaceutical companies profited from targeting drugs at DSM disorders.Bureaucracies and insurance companies found DSM codes serviceable for administrative purposes.This confluence of interests helped ensure the stability of the DSM system.Throughout the development
Authors: Jacob Barlow, Rachel Cooper
Institution: Lancaster University
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4404020751