DSM-5 Psychiatric/General Medical Interface Study Group

DSM-5 Psychiatric/General Medical Interface Study Group and  Somatic Symptom Disorders Work Group  

Post #19 Shortlink: http://wp.me/pKrrB-zC

On 10 February, when the American Psychiatric Association (APA) published draft proposals for DSM-5 categories, it launched new DSM-5 Development web pages. Links on this site posted prior to 10 February will link to the old APA DSM-V pages. This will be attended to as soon as possible.

This new DSM-5 Development website page Somatic Symptom Disorders Work Group links to biosketches and COI disclosure information for each Somatic Symptom Disorders Work Group member. Under the chairmanship of Joel E Dimsdale, MD, the nine Work Group members are:  

Somatic Symptom Disorders Work Group

Dimsdale, Joel E., M.D.
Barsky III, Arthur J., M.D. *
Creed, Francis, M.D. *
Frasure-Smith, Nancy, Ph.D.
Irwin, Michael R., M.D.
Keefe, Francis J., Ph.D.
Lee, Sing, M.D.
Levenson, James L., M.D. *
Sharpe, Michael, M.D . *
Wulsin, Lawson R., M.D. 

*Four members of the Somatic Symptom Disorders Work Group, Arthur Barsky, MD, Francis Creed, MD, James Levinson, MD and Michael Sharpe, MD, had been members of the Conceptual Issues in Somatoform and Similar Disorders (CISSD) Project workgroup.  Professor Michael Sharpe had served as the CISSD Project’s UK Chair.  

**The CISSD Project was an unofficial project undertaken between 2003 and 2007, initiated and co-ordinated by Dr Richard Sykes, PhD, former Director of Westcare UK (engulfed by Action for M.E. in mid 2002). Action for M.E. acted as Principal Administrators for the project. The Principal Collaborator was Professor Rachel Jenkins, WHO Collaborating Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London.

The 2007 paper: Kroenke K: Somatoform disorders and recent diagnostic controversies. Psychiatr Clin North Am 2007 Dec;30(4):593-619. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17938036

contains the caveat:

“Although the CISSD is an ad hoc group that includes many international experts on somatoform disorders, it was neither appointed nor sanctioned by the APA or WHO, the organizations authorized to approve revisions of DSM and ICD, respectively. As such, the CISSD recommendations should be considered advisory rather than official. Also, there were some suggestions for which the CISSD achieved near consensus but other issues where opinions diverged considerably.”

**The Dx Revision Watch pages for the CISSD Project are under construction. 

Study Groups 

According the APA:

“As development on DSM-5 progressed, the importance of addressing cross-cutting issues relevant to all of the disorder work groups became increasingly evident. As a result, six DSM-5 Study Groups were formed to address these universal topic areas.”

Psychiatric/General Medical Interface Study Group  

“The Psychiatric/General Medical Interface Study Group is chaired by Lawson R. Wulsin, M.D. The study group is examining the link between general medical disorders and psychiatric disorders. Given that most patients with mental illnesses are seen by primary care physicians, the study group aims to ensure that DSM-5 meets the needs of general medical practitioners and not just specialty mental health clinicians. The group is also developing revision strategies for the forthcoming DSM-5-PC, which is intended to be used in primary care settings. The members of the Psychiatric/General Medical Interface Study Group are listed below.” 

Psychiatric/General Medical Interface Study Group Members 

Wulsin, Lawson R., M.D. [Member, Somatic Symptoms Disorders Work Group]
Dahl, Ronald E., M.D.
Dimsdale, Joel E., M.D. [Chair, Somatic Symptoms Disorders Work Group]
Escobar, Javier I., M.D. [Member, DSM-5 Task Force and Liaison to SSD Work Group]
Jeste, Dilip V., M.D.
Kaufmann, Walter E., M.D.
Kreipe, Richard E., M.D.
Petersen, Ronald, Ph.D., M.D.
Reynolds, Charles F., M.D.
Segraves, Taylor R., M.D., Ph.D.
Walsh, Timothy B., M.D. 

Javier Escobar, MD, Director of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) – Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms (MUPS) Research Center, which has been supported with over $4M in funding by the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), had also been a member of the CISSD Project workgroup. 

Dr Escobar is a member of the DSM-5 Task Force, serves as Task Force liaison to the DSM-5 Somatic Symptom Disorders Work Group and according to the Task Force, works closely with this work group.