MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'allen frances'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 03:33:54 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3790752&cid=t_248311_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F07%2F26%2Foverdiagnosis-mental-disorders-and-the-dsm-5%2F Is the DSM-5 — the book professionals and researchers use to diagnose mental disorders — leading us to a society that embraces “over-diagnosis”? Or was this trend of creating “fad” diagnoses started long before the DSM-5 revision process — perhaps even starting with the DSM-IV before it? Allen Frances, who oversaw the DSM-IV revision process and has been an outspoken critic of the DSM-5, suggests melodramatically that “normality is an endangered species,” due in part to “fad diagnoses” and an “epidemic” of over-diagnosing, ominously suggesting in his opening paragraph that the “DSM5 threatens to provoke several more [epidemics].” First, when a person starts throwing around a term such as “over d... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3790752 Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:02:09 +0100 3790752 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3776378&cid=t_248311_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Flife-without-a-mental-disorder-is-it-possible%2F2010.07.21 There’s a noteworthy column in Psychiatric Times, “Normality Is an Endangered Species: Psychiatric Fads and Overdiagnosis,” by Allen Frances, M.D. He was chair of the task force that worked on the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual — DSM-IV — one edition of the “bible of psychiatry.” He is professor emeritus of psychiatry at Duke University School of Medicine. There’s a lot of common ground between what Dr. Frances writes and what Dr. Daniel Carlat (the subject of an earlier blog posting) writes about. Dr. Frances is concerned about the directions that might be taken in the authoring of DSM-V, now underway. Excerpts: “Fads in psychiatric diagnosis come and go and have been with us as long as there has been psychiatry. The fads meet a d... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3776378 Wed, 21 Jul 2010 23:00:01 +0100 3776378 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2786011&cid=t_248311_109_f&fid=38951&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcarlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F08%2Fdsm-v-transparency-case-study.html Discussion: Is the Risk Syndrome for Psychosis Risky Business?", this describes in detail the proposal for a new disorder called "Risk Syndrome for Psychosis." You can access the proposed criteria for the disorder, including the text discussing characteristics, associated features, differential diagnosis, etc.... So far, there are 23 comments posted, constituting a rigorous debate about the pros and cons of the proposal.At this point, the diagnosis may or may not make it into DSM-V. It really depends on whether there is strong enough research indicating that treatment of early forms of psychosis can head off the later development of schizophrenia. My understanding is that the research is unconvincing, but I'm willing to defer to these specialists, who clearly know a lot more about psychosi... The Carlat Psychiatry Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2786011 Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:34:00 +0100 2786011 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2786022&cid=t_248311_109_f&fid=38951&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcarlatpsychiatry.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F07%2Fold-friends-battle-it-out-over-dsm-v.html Yesterday, Psychiatric Times published this response to the Allen Frances critique of DSM-V. It is written by William Carpenter, who is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland, and the chairman of the DSM-V work group on psychosis.Carpenter begins his response by saying that Allen Frances is an "old friend," although from the tenor of this article, "old" may be the operative word. I know Dr. Carpenter myself, having interviewed him for the March 2007 issue of The Carlat Psychiatry Report, and having chatted with him here and there at APA meetings. He's a southern gentleman, and I found him very forthcoming and honest about a range of issues, including his refreshing skepticism of the value of some of the newer atypical antipsychotics. He has done some consultation with drug c... The Carlat Psychiatry Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2786022 Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:47:00 +0100 2786022 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2517273&cid=t_248311_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F06%2F25%2Ftransparency-kupfer-and-the-dsm-v%2F Why is the new revision of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the “DSM-V”) — the reference book used to diagnose mental disorders in the U.S. — being updated in secrecy? That’s a legitimate question, and one asked by the previous head of the other modern DSM revisions (III, III-R and IV), Dr. Allen Frances in an upcoming Psychiatric Times article: The secretiveness of the DSM-V process is extremely puzzling. In my entire experience working on DSM-III, DSM-III-R, and DSM-IV, nothing ever came up that even remotely had to be hidden from anyone. There is everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose from having a totally open process… You’d have to ask Dr. David Kupfer, the head of the DSM-V revision process, or the American Psy... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2517273 Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:05:02 +0100 2517273