In a moment we'll hear from Dr Allen Frances who supervised the previous version of the DSM 19 years ago. He's described the new edition as a bonanza for the pharmaceutical industry. First, this report from Margot O'Neill.



MARGOT O'NEILL, REPORTER: A diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, gave lifechanging relief to Mark Brandtman and his children.



MARK BRANDTMAN, ADHD CONSULTANT: The children academically succeeded, their friendships improved and I would say from my point of view that within 18 months of being medicated, I was selfemployed. I now operate a business that helps ADHD people.



MARGOT ugg bailey button boots O'NEILL: But ADHD is one of the psychiatric conditions under fire for the overdiagnosis of mental illness in the community. And the criticism has intensified with the release this week of the latest version of psychiatry's key textbook, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, or DSM V. It's being attacked for medicalising normal human frailties, such as grief when a loved one dies or children's temper tantrums.



But senior psychiatrist and lecturer Dr Darryl Watson says people misunderstand the role of the DSM, which isn't a psychiatric bible, but an evolving guide.



DARRYL ugg boots clearance WATSON, ADELAIDE UNIVERSITY: When DSM I came out in the early '50s to now, about 60 years apart, there's been a great improvement in our knowledge about conditions about what works and the like.



MARGOT O'NEILL: The DSM provides psychiatrists with a framework to help deal with the inexact nature of their science.



DARRYL WATSON: The boundaries between certain presentations between normal and disordered are very vague anyway, so clinicians need to have a labelling system.



MARGOT O'NEILL: Critics say psychiatry remains such an inexact science that labelling behavioural symptoms without clear biological causes can lead to the misuse of drugs. In Australia, prescription of antidepressants has doubled and antipsychotics has tripled over the past decade.



Indigo Daya was diagnosed as schizophrenic, one of seven diagnoses. She's now part of a movement to reduce drug dependence for people who hear voices.



INDIGO DAYA, MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATE: It almost seems as though the longer you stay in the system, the more diagnoses you can get. When I first got a diagnoses, I was pleased because I thought it might lead to some treatment that would help me, but over the years I became a bit more cynical about the diagnoses.



MARGOT O'NEILL: Over the decades, the DSM was radically shifted its definitions. In the early '70s, homosexuality was seen as a mental illness, while bereavement for a loved one has been in and then out and now back in as a cause of depression.



DARRYL WATSON: Imagine the outrage if we just ignored that and stayed with the old rather than trying to develop the new. We have to move forward and we're moving forward in a stepwise manner. And DSM V I don't think will make a huge difference, if any difference, in the consulting room..