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NOFAS supports the inclusion of FASD is the DSM-V, the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), expected to be published in 2012.
NOFAS, the Minnesota Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (MOFAS), and over 40 other FASD-focused organizations are advocating for the inclusion of FASD in DSM-V. Longtime proponent of FASD in the DSM, Dr. Susan Rich, MD, MPH, and other prominent psychiatrists are also collaborating to encourage the American Psychiatric Association (APA) on the FASD inclusion issue.
An APA Task Force is currently overseeing the development of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The DSM is the handbook used by psychiatrists and other mental health professionals in the United States as well as other countries around the world to diagnose and classify mental disorders.
According to the APA’s website, the DSM is:
…the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health professionals in the United States. It is intended to be applicable in a wide array of contexts and used by clinicians and researchers of many different orientations (e.g., biological, psychodynamic, cognitive, behavioral, interpersonal, family/systems). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) has been designed for use across clinical settings (inpatient, outpatient, partial hospital, consultation-liaison, clinic, private practice, and primary care), with community populations. It can be used by a wide range of health and mental health professionals, including psychiatrists and other physicians, psychologists, social workers, nurses, occupational and rehabilitation therapists, and counselors. It is also a necessary tool for collecting and communicating accurate public health statistics.
DSM-V is a planned revision expected to be released in May 2012. Two Task Force committees—the Substance-Related Disorders and Developmental Disorders Work Groups—are considering inclusion of FAS/FASD/ARND in a format and content that will be strictly based on the state of the research. An FASD research literature review that will present the scientific case for inclusion is currently in development.
NOFAS, MOFAS and other FASD organizations have submitted a letter of support for FASD inclusion to the relevant DSM-V Task Force work group chairs. It states in part:
We are pleased that your deliberations on the DSM-V will be determined by the state of scientific research, as we strongly believe that thirty-five years of clinical, animal, epidemiological, and cellular research demonstrates a clear diagnostic framework for FASD. As advocacy organizations, we have a profound understanding of how the absence of FASD in DSM-IV contributes to diagnostic inaccuracy, treatment delivery problems, medication mismanagement, and resource limitations for affected individuals. It creates reimbursement problems for practitioners and results in under-reporting of this preventable disorder. In terms of prevention, under-reporting leads to the failure for women of childbearing age to be adequately informed about the lifelong psychopathology associated with drinking alcohol either during or before they are aware of pregnancy.
The Minnesota Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome has been an early and national leader on the FASD inclusion issue.
Click the following link to view the MOFAS position statement on FASD and the DSM, MOFAS Position Statement (PDF)
MOFAS has also prepared a Q & A on the issue, MOFAS DSM Q & A (PDF)
For more information or to sign-on in support of the NOFAS FASD in the DSM advocacy efforts, contact Brian Gilman, gilman@nofas.org.
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