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A H Mack

Publications and source records attributed to A H Mack.

3 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

DMS-IV meets philosophy.

The authors discuss some of the conceptual issues that must be considered in using and understanding psychiatric classification. DMS-IV is a practical and common sense nosology of psychiatric disorders that is intended to improve communication in clinical practice and in research studies. DSM-IV has no philosophic pretensions but does raise many philosophical questions. This paper describes the development of DSM-IV and the way in which it addresses a number of philosophic issues: nominalism vs. realism, epistemology in science, the mind/body dichotomy, the definition of mental disorders, and dimensional vs. categorical classification.

Humans↗
PubMed1994

A brief history of psychiatric classification. From the ancients to DSM-IV.

We are now at an interesting crossroads in the history of psychiatric nosology. There have been many oscillations over time between etiologic and descriptive models, between lumping and splitting, and between categorical and dimensional systems. It is unfortunate, but inevitable, that most of the etiologic models of the past have been based on unproven and unprovable theories. Like its predecessors, DSM-IV is a descriptive system, and it too gradually will be replaced by an etiologic model--one, it is hoped, that is more scientifically valid than previous attempts at etiologic explanation. This will be an important step for the profession, for scientific understanding, and for the patient.

Europe↗