PTSD in DSM-III: A Case in the Politics of Diagnosis and Disease

• DOI: ['10.1525/sp.1990.37.3.03a00020', '10.2307/800744']
• Publication Date: 1990-08-01
• Authors: Wilbur J. Scott
• Keywords: 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Listing (finance); Neurosis; DSM-5; Association (psychology); Social Psychiatry

The American Psychiatric Association published the third edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-III) in 1980. Unlike DSM-II, it included listing “post-traumatic stress disorder” (PTSD). PTSD diagnosis is product a concerted effort to reintroduce war neurosis into official psychiatric nomenclature. This paper tells sociological story who put DSM-III how they did it.