[DSM-5: a diagnosis and a drug should not be denied to anyone]

In May 2013 the American Psychiatric Association approved the 5th revised edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), that since 1958 has been a reference document for the classification of psychiatric conditions. Even before its publication the DSM-5 has raised a controversy widely covered by media, the strongest argument of its critics being the fact that DSM-5 favors the medicalization of conditions that belong to ordinary human experiences. Using DSM-5 as a diagnostic tool in clinical practice may favor over-diagnosis and over-treatment, for example by labeling many healthy people experiencing forgetfulness as affected by "cognitive impairment", while grieving after the death of a loved one may be diagnosed as a "major depressive disorder". Moreover, the scientific integrity of the committee that produced the DSM-5 has been questioned, arguing that the tendency to expand the boundaries of mental illness may have been driven by financial and intellectual conflicts of interest and by ties with drug companies of some of its members.