Title Change for DSM-V?

To the Editor: In a remarkable book, A Research Agenda for DSM-V(1), 46 international experts proposed far-reaching research that could eventually lead to diagnoses based more on etiology than on symptom syndromes. I offer a suggestion for improving DSM-V that would require little or no research. I suggest deleting the term “statistical” from the title of the manual, thereby making it the “Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition.” The abbreviation would become DM-V—or, perhaps better—DMMD-V. Here is my rationale for the suggested change.

1. The title of a book should concisely and correctly inform readers about its principal content. The current title misleads readers. DSM-I and DSM-II contain short sections on statistical reporting, but DSM-III and DSM-IV do not. Neither DSM-III nor DSM-IV can correctly be called a “statistical manual.”

2. DSM classifications are used for statistical reporting, but they are also used for clinical care, teaching, and research. Including all purposes served by DSM would produce a long and unwieldy title.

This change might puzzle or distress some users who have become accustomed to “DSM.” Most users would probably appreciate the need and accept the change; a poll of users could be taken. However, the American Journal of Insanity changed its name to the American Journal of Psychiatry and continued to prosper.