The Desk Reference to the Diagnostic Criteria From DSM-IV-TR® is a concise, affordable companion to the ultimate psychiatric reference, DSM-IV-TR®. It includes all the diagnostic criteria from DSM-IV-TR® in an easy-to-use, spiralbound format. It includes a pull-out chart of the DSM-IV-TR Classification.

Changes were made to the following diagnostic criteria:

• Personality Change Due to a General Medical Condition
• Paraphilias
• Tic Disorders

The main thing that I would like to encourage you to do is to buy this desk reference edition as opposed to the full size edition. Most anything you would need to understand and to make appropriate diagnoses is included in the desk reference. It comes in a size that you can carry around with you wherever you go and is therefore not burdensome like the "full size" DSM. My desk reference has been a "life-saver" many times.

34 of 35 found the following review helpful:


Extremely Useful...Better than the big one  Aug 04, 2002 By drbia "drbia"
I am a psychiatry resident and I find this book extremely useful. Its small, easy to carry around, very user friendly and helps for quick reference in all spheres. Much much better than carrying the larger DSM IV around. I highly recommend this for all mental health professionals.

24 of 24 found the following review helpful:


A good reference with limitations  Mar 11, 2006 By D. Neunaber "dneunaber"
As the DSM revisions have grown in size since DSM-III, a quick reference for the larger, complete DSM-IV-TR is essential, and this book is good. However, the lack of a decision tree for differential diagnosis is problematic, given the similarity of many diagnostic categories (e.g. bipolar II and ADHD). If you are a professional using DSM, then this book works okay, given that many professionals quickly refer to the criteria for a difficult dx issue, or to cover certain criteria for insurance or ducumentation purposes. It is important to remember that DSM is so big because of a need for specific criteria to increase diagnostic reliability. A small reference like this helps with this "Chinese menu" approach ((i.e. a list of criteria defining each disorder) because it makes the lists easier to access. It goes without saying that spiral bound format is essential. Of course, a list of criteria doesn't equal a diagnosis in practice, so I recommend that anyone who seriously uses the DSM to get the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, or a similar resource, as an aid to making a reliable diagnosis via structured interview. I'd like to see an attempt at a combined DSM-IV-TR /DIS--which would give both the criteria, and structured interview methods to assess them.

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