Defining Mental Health

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DSM IV

Controversy is brewing in the psychiatric world over proposed revisions to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the DSM. Experts are working on revising the DSM for an upcoming fifth edition. Detractors of the process say it's too secretive and beneficial to pharmaceutical companies. They also worry that changes to the DSM would lead to some healthy people being classified as mentally ill. Supporters of the proposed revisions say that the DSM classifications are out of date and changes are necessary to treat mental illness earlier and more effectively.

Host Frank Stasio will explore the controversy with Gary Greenberg, a practicing psychotherapist, freelance journalist and author of a recent article about the DSM in "Wired" magazine; Mike Mayer, senior partner of the Mebane-based Community Resource Alliance; Jane Costello, co-director of the Center for Developmental Epidemiology at Duke University Medical School; and Deby Dihoff, executive director of the North Carolina chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness .