The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is the complete guide for diagnosing psychological disorders. This manual is published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and is currently in its fifth revision. Furthermore, the manual is used by a multitude of mental health professionals around the world in the process of identifying individuals with disorders and provides a comprehensive list of the various disorders that have been identified. The DSM serves as an essential resource for diagnosing mental disorders based on the various signs and symptoms exhibited by individuals, while providing a basic reference point for the treatment of different disorders. The manual attempts to remain scientific in its approach to identifying the underlying symptoms of each disorder, while accommodating the needs of different psychological perspectives and various domains of mental health. The DSM recently underwent a major revision from DSM-IV-TR to DSM-5 and contains many significant changes in both the diagnosis of mental disorders and their classification. History of Change Originally published in 1952, the DSM has gone through a number of revisions in its history. The original manual was the culmination of a long journey of its own. According to Tartokovsky (2011), the DSM was born from the need to minimize the confusion that had developed in the world of mental health care regarding the classification of disorders. Prior to this, there had been an initial attempt to create a classification system that emerged in 1917 known as the Statistical Manual for the Use of Institutions for the Insane. The manual was written by the predecessor of the APA and was...... middle of paper ......pfer, D. (2013). The DSM-5 - an interview with David Kupfer. BMC Medicine, 11, 203.Nemeroff, C.B., Weinberger, D., Rutter, M., MacMillan, H.L., Bryant, R.A., Wessely, S., ...Lysaker, P. (2013). DSM-5: A collection of psychiatric perspectives on changes, controversies, and future directions. BMC Medicine, 11, 202. New diagnostic guidelines redefine addiction: changes may lead to earlier interventions and better prognoses. (2012). Mind, Mood and Memory, 8(10), 6.Schneider, M.E. (2013, May). Five ways the DSM-5 could change your practice: Eliminating the five-axis system should make diagnoses less burdensome. Clinical Psychiatry News, 41(5), 1+.Tartakovsky, M. (2011). How the DSM developed: What you might not know. Psychological center. Retrieved November 21, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2011/07/02/how-the-dsm-developed-what-you-might-not-know/