Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 23
 A Psych student's best friend... June 17, 2000
Joscelyn (Calabasas, CA)
17 out of 20 found this review helpful
This manual was excellent for helping the Behavioral Scientist, and Psych student. I would recommend that every Social Science student get one, to help them through the core courses of their quest to get a degree. I also recommend the "companion" to the DSM. That's very helpful too.
The ONLY Manual for Psychological/Psychiatric Disorders January 19, 2005
C. Swenson (Wisconsin)
15 out of 18 found this review helpful
Anyone who reviews this book and gives it less than a 4 or 5 is obviously uneducated about clinical disorders. This is the bedrock of clinical psychology and psychiatry, and, even if it is flawed in philosophy or content, has NO peer. I recommend this book only for those who understand the scientific method and those interested in pursuing graduate study of psychology or psychiatry.
Excellent resource for clinical diagnosing. September 13, 1998
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
As an early childhood clinical consultant, it is important with a diagnostic tool such as DSM IV, to not use as a guide to self-diagnose or to diagnose your child. It is also important to note that diagnosis is made using the behavioral characteristics and measurements of duration, frequency and severity of behaviour. Also, it is important to be able to understand dual-diagnosis children, and children who present same symptoms as AD(H)D, yet may actually be depressed, anxious, or even have Tourette's as a primary diagnosis.Work with your elementary school, or day care facility to examine the environmental changes you can make to accommodate a child's attention span. And remember, medication is a last resort. Consult your pediatricians, please.
Excellent resource for clinical diagnosing. September 14, 1998
Linda Levy (Tucson, Arizona USA)
11 out of 14 found this review helpful
As an early childhood clinical consultant, it is important with a diagnostic tool such as DSM IV, to not use as a guide to self-diagnose or to diagnose your child. It is also important to note that diagnosis is made using the behavioral characteristics and measurements of duration, frequency and severity of behaviour. Also, it is important to be able to understand dual-diagnosis children, and children who present same symptoms as AD(H)D, yet may actually be depressed, anxious, or even have Tourette's as a primary diagnosis.Work with your elementary school, or day care facility to examine the environmental changes you can make to accommodate a child's attention span. And remember, medication is a last resort. Consult your pediatricians, please.
Some important clarifications June 22, 2006
Jacinto Franãa (Lisbon, Portugal)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
First of all, don't get discouraged by the negative reviews because some of them (maybe most of them!) are clearly scientologist reviews. Scientologists believe that psychiatrists are behind the rise of Hitler, not to mention other interesting stuff such as, that Xenu, the galatic overlord, was helped by psychiatrists; this is actualy true, so...
Anyway, about the DSM-IV , I think it can be an excelent manual IF used properly. Classification is a somewhat inerently arbitrary activity and that should be understood. This classification should be understood as a frame of reference, not as a categoric and precise classification of diseases, since that is impossible given the huge complexity and/or size and nature of the task. Furthermore, psychology/psychiatry is a field still with much research to do so the manual also suffers from this lack of research.
Therefore, as long as DSM-IV is aproached with this in mind, it can be an excelent book because it puts mental health professionals speaking the same language. It's primary value is as a frame of reference for the mental health professionals and as such it is excelent.
Whatever way the insurance companies take advantage of this, it's not the fault of the DSM-IV. Whatever doctor prescribes medication without being necessary, it's his fault, not DSM's. Conspiracy theorists forget that there are good people in the world...
Showing reviews 1-5 of 23
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