RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 DSM-5 and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
JF Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
JO J Am Acad Psychiatry Law
FD American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
SP 146
OP 158
VO 42
IS 2
A1 Andrew P. Levin
A1 Stuart B. Kleinman
A1 John S. Adler
YR 2014
UL http://jaapl.org/content/42/2/146.abstract
AB The latest iteration of the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) criteria presented in The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) includes specific elaborations of the gatekeeper criteria, a new category of stressor, an expansion in the number of symptoms, addition of a new subtype of PTSD, and an enlarged text discussion that breaks new ground in defining the criteria. We first trace the rationale underlying these changes and their impact on the prevalence of PTSD diagnoses in clinical studies and then present potential implications of the new criteria for forensic assessment methodology and the detection of malingering, interpretations of criminal responsibility and mitigation, evaluation of the reliability of witnesses, the scope of claims in civil and employment cases, and eligibility for disability.