An Overview of Mood Disorders in the DSM-5

The process of revising the DSM, which is based on new findings in the literature and experience with the current classification, is initiated every 12–18 years. The process for the revision of DSM-IV to the DSM-5 began in 2006—after a series of meeting proceedings and monographs were published during the previous 3 years—with the appointment of diagnostic group chairs by Director Dr. David Kupfer and Vice Director Dr. Darrel Regier. Members were recruited for workgroups to review the existing DSM-IV, to decide what worked well and which areas needed change, to review the available literature and data, and to propose changes based on an appropriate level of evidence in the literature proportional to the significance of the change. At the halfway point in this process, the Mood Disorders Workgroup has made tentative recommendations to be tested in field trials. These recommendations and some of the basis for them are discussed in this review. Final decisions await the data from field trials, possible revisions by the workgroups, and action by the task force. This article describes some of the recommendations made by the Mood Disorders Workgroup at this point in the process.