Desk Reference to Diagnostic Criteria from DSM 4 (Desk Reference To The Diagnostic Criteria From The DSM-IV-TR)

The argument "diagnosis/no diagnosis" should be over with by now. A patient may be treated in a community mental health setting, then in a hospital, then elsewhere. The referring clinician needs to provide information about her difficulty, and diagnosis is a concise and helpful way of doing this. Her care will be paid for by an insurance company or a government entity, which usually (whether we like it or not) will ask for a number to ensure they have a disease that "meets criteria." Careful training in diagnosis is needed to ensure health professionals don't have a cavalier attitude towards the diagnoses they provide; but simply sticking to the criteria outlined in the IV-TR helps ward off such lack of carefulness. It also helps make it more likely that Dr. X in San Francisco is talking about the same thing when he says "schizophrenia, paranoid type" as Dr. Y in Virginia Beach when he says "schizophrenia, paranoid type." Such reliability is essential in our continued research on mental illness and substance abuse.That said, a clinician in a hospital or clinic setting who needs to understand or determine diagnosis can benefit from both the hardcover versions of the DSM-IV-TR and this spiral bound version. I myself have the hardbound DSM-IV, and instead of purchasing both TR's, simply purchased the spiral-bound DSM-IV-TR. The spiral bound is essential because, with so much use, a glued binding will quickly fall apart. As a clinician currently assigned to a county hospital screening site, I carry my little spiral book everywhere. It fits easily into my purse, but it's not so small that the print is hard to read. There is even a pull-out of all the diagnoses at the beginning that's handy to glance at or tack on the wall.You will need the hardbound because of the additional information, but if your work requires you to do evaluations in a variety of settings, or even if you know you will be referring to it often and don't want to be bothered getting the big one off the shelf, definitely purchase this one as well.Kelly L. Norman, ACSW

This is a very concise, compact, and accessible quick reference to the full DSM-IV-TR. By no means is it intended to replace the full exposition of the standard reference to the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (2000). The Introduction to this handbook states explicitly that it contains "...only the Classification (i.e., the list of disorders, subtypes, and specifiers, and diagnostic codes), sections describing the use of the manual and multiaxial assessment, and diagnostic criteria sets." (p. ix) The clinician must be thoroughly familiar with the full text of the DSM-IV-TR for which it is an invaluable companion.

This desk reference guide was great at work or completing homework assignments while still in school. The full version is large, heavy, and daunting. This pocket model provides the most used information in a convenient size. It was not a mandatory purchase like the full version was for school but I never regretted purchasing this one in addition. In fact, this quick reference guide has been use more often than my full one.

Very good, would recommend

What's not to like about the DSM-IV-TR? Well, except for the limitations of diagnosis itself. The DSM V actually allows more flexibility in recognizing the diagnosis in more subtle ways, but clinical systems are still generally using the DSM IV categories for classification and insurance billing etc.

This book is great for what it is intended for. Yes, it leaves out differential diagnosis but that is to be expected in a desk reference. If it had all the same information as the DSM-IV-TR it would be just as big.I am a recent M.S.W graduate and learned coding and diagnosing on the DSM V but the agency I work for still codes and diagnoses with the IV-TR. This book is great as many of the diagnostic criteria are the same in the IV-TR and V.I would recommend this to anyone who needs a quick reference book if coding in IV-TR format.

Honestly, I use this along with the full size DSM-IV-TR, but I use this first, then only go to the larger volume if necessary. It has the same basic information and I insert notes, diagrams and color-coded charts inside this spiral-bound book and it makes Dx easier. As a student and soon to be an intern MFT, I do need to refer to the DSM frequently. I can toss this pint-sized book into my brief case without adding the bulk or weight of the full-sized tome. For me it has been well worth the investment.

This handy little desk reference is such a wonderful item! It is small, concise, but still extremely useful. It is the perfect thing to have set in the corner of your desk, always at your disposal. Keep the hefty complete DSM-IV on the shelf and pick up this bad boy. I am currently in my final semester of my undergrad and this has helped me so much in my upper level PSYC classes and I expect it to only continue to do so throughout my graduate, doctorate, and professional endeavors!

Un must en matière de livre de référence. La couverture à spirale est très pratique. Maintenant j'attends le DSM 5 dans la même édition!

Not only did I recieve the order within a few days but the book is brand new. Thank you!