Dsm-5 Research Paper
Mental illnesses are more readily labeled today than at any other time in history. Following this heightened awareness; substance abuse disorder has been established in the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual, 5th edition (DSM-5) as its own diagnostic category. The DSM-5 is a diagnostic tool employed by healthcare professionals in the procedure of determining the proper diagnosis as well as the course of treatment for individuals suffering from mental health disorders. Each year, thousands of people remain untreated as a result of their drug or alcohol use. Due to the stigma surrounding addiction, hesitation to fully disclose the substances that contribute to the symptoms experienced by a patient can cause a dual diagnosis to be difficult
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After decades of discussion and argument surrounding the origin and nature of substance abuse, it has finally gained acceptance by the psychiatric community as a mental disorder. The DSM-5 refers to 10 categories within the diagnosis of substance use disorder (SUD), acknowledging that each “[class is] not fully distinct” (481). In other words, while each drug class mentioned in the manual features unique qualities, those qualities may overlap. Mental illness and substance abuse are also engaged in the dance of blended borders. An article published in the International Journal of Mental Health gives evidence of their study across a group of 325 individuals with SUD. From this interaction, 38% of these individuals also suffer a co-occurring disorder (COD). Citing discrepancies among the categories, the data points to a higher instance of heroin use in participants who were in the SUD group, choosing this over stimulants versus the COD group who exhibited a preference for methamphetamine and cocaine over opioids (Shield et al. 798). The DSM-5 concurs, showing in “Table 1 Diagnoses associated with substance class” that stimulants are likely to be associated with eight of nine diagnoses with onset during intoxication or withdrawal and includes statistics showing that opioid use is associated with only five of these same disorders (482). Van Wormer and Davis expound on the problem of defining the difference between SUD and COD by citing author Denning who says, “some clinicians in the substance abuse treatment field note that it is rare to uncover a normal, well-adjusted, average person hiding under a serious addiction because the addiction in and of itself takes a heavy psychological and emotional toll” (155). They go on to explain that each scenario, like each disorder, is uniquely
After decades of discussion and argument surrounding the origin and nature of substance abuse, it has finally gained acceptance by the psychiatric community as a mental disorder. The DSM-5 refers to 10 categories within the diagnosis of substance use disorder (SUD), acknowledging that each “[class is] not fully distinct” (481). In other words, while each drug class mentioned in the manual features unique qualities, those qualities may overlap. Mental illness and substance abuse are also engaged in the dance of blended borders. An article published in the International Journal of Mental Health gives evidence of their study across a group of 325 individuals with SUD. From this interaction, 38% of these individuals also suffer a co-occurring disorder (COD). Citing discrepancies among the categories, the data points to a higher instance of heroin use in participants who were in the SUD group, choosing this over stimulants versus the COD group who exhibited a preference for methamphetamine and cocaine over opioids (Shield et al. 798). The DSM-5 concurs, showing in “Table 1 Diagnoses associated with substance class” that stimulants are likely to be associated with eight of nine diagnoses with onset during intoxication or withdrawal and includes statistics showing that opioid use is associated with only five of these same disorders (482). Van Wormer and Davis expound on the problem of defining the difference between SUD and COD by citing author Denning who says, “some clinicians in the substance abuse treatment field note that it is rare to uncover a normal, well-adjusted, average person hiding under a serious addiction because the addiction in and of itself takes a heavy psychological and emotional toll” (155). They go on to explain that each scenario, like each disorder, is uniquely