The construction of the DSM: Genealogy of a sociopolitical product

Abstract

The DSM by American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the most relevant classification of mental disorders in the clinic and academic field. It is a manual that has been changing according to its context, although not always due to advances in scientific knowledge. The historical review of the manual’s successive editions shows its sociopolitical nature. Indeed ideological or political factors have been very influential in its configuration. These factors help to explain the properties of current psychiatry represented by the DSM-5 and understand the strong critiques addressed to it.