A reference work developed by the American Psychiatric Association and designed to provide guidelines for the diagnosis and classification of mental disorders.

The American Psychiatric Association publishes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, widely referred to as DSM-IV, a reference work designed to provide guidelines for psychologists and others to use in the diagnosis and classification of mental disorders. The latest edition, DSM-IV, serves as a reference to psychiatrists, other physicians and mental health professionals, psychologists, social workers, and others in clinical, educational, and social service settings.

First published in 1917, each new edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders has added new categories. With the third edition, published in 1980, the DSM began recommending assessment of mental disorders according to five axes, or dimensions, that together establish an overall picture of...