IoP hosts international conference on DSM-5

To mark the publication of the fifth and latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s hosted an international conference to debate the clinical, research, and public health implications of the DSM-5.

The conference was the first such meeting since the launch of the DSM-5 on 18^th May 2013 in the United States, and was attended by Professor David Kupfer, Chair of the DSM-5 Task Force and Professor of Psychiatry at the Western Pacific Institute in Pittsburgh. 

Professor Norman Sartorius, Professor Shitij Kapur and Professor David Kupfer

Over two days, the strengths and weaknesses of the DSM-5 were debated and the conference took an in depth look at two areas in particular: childhood disorders (principally ADHD and autism) and the proposed prodromal psychosis syndrome.

Professor Shitij Kapur, Dean and Head of School of the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s, says: “The IoP’s DSM-5 conference illustrates our long-standing culture of rigorous debate and discussion. Interest in the DSM-5 has stretched well beyond the world of academic psychiatry and has become a matter of intense public debate and media coverage. We heard from those either side of the debate and I was delighted to welcome globally renowned academics and researchers and importantly, service user representatives and front-line clinicians to offer their views on this controversial topic.”

For a summary of the DSM-5 conference by Professor Sir Simon Wessely, Vice Dean (Academic Psychiatry) at the IoP at King's, please see here.

Speakers included:

• Professor David Kupfer, Chair of DSM-5 Task Force and Professor at the University of Pittsburgh
• Professor William Carpenter, DSM-5 Task Force Member and Professor at the University of Maryland
• Professor David Clark, Professor of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford
• Dr Clare Gerada, General Practitioner and Chair of the Council of the Royal College of General Practitioners
• Professor Catherine Lord, Director of the Center for Autism and the Developing Brain and Professor at the University of Michigan
• Professor Vikram Patel, Professor of International Mental Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
• Professor Nikolas Rose, Head of theDepartment of Social Science, Health and Medicine, King’s College London
• Sir Michael Rutter, First Professor of Child Psychiatry in the UK and Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at King’s College London
• Professor Norman Sartorius, former Director of the World Health Organization's Division of Mental Health, and a former President of the World Psychiatric Association

To end the conference, the IoP opened its doors to the public for the 45^th Maudsley Debate which saw Dr Felicity Callard and Critical Psychiatrist, Pat Bracken take on Professor Tony David and Professor Norman Sartorius, debating the motion “This House believes that psychiatric diagnosis has advanced the care of people with mental health problems.”

The podcast from the Maudsely Debate is now available online

For further information, please contact Seil Collins, Press Officer, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, email: seil.collins@kcl.ac.uk or tel: (+44) 0207 848 5377