Am J Psychiatry 1986; 143:463-468
Copyright © 1986 by American Psychiatric Association
Proposed changes in DSM-III substance use disorders: description and rationale
BJ Rounsaville, RL Spitzer and JB Williams
The authors describe changes in DSM-III substance use disorders to be
included in the revised version, DSM-III-R. Major revisions include removal
of the distinction between "abuse" and "dependence" and broadening the
definition of "dependence" to a syndrome of clinically significant
behaviors that indicate a serious degree of involvement with psychoactive
drugs; creation of a new category of "psychoactive substance
neuroadaptation syndrome" for individuals whose physiological adaptations
to high doses of psychoactive substances did not arise from their own
behavior; use of an identical set of symptoms and behaviors to determine
dependence on all different classes of psychoactive substances; and
provision of a system for rating severity of dependence.
