The DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) is the most widely used manual for the diagnosis of mental disorders. Therefore, knowledge of and facility with the DSM is a necessity for clinicians and other mental health professionals who work with those living with or affected by mental disorders. However, those with little or no experience with DSM may feel overwhelmed with the vast exhaustive manual that is the newest edition, DSM-5. The Study Guide to DSM-5 is an adjunctive resource to the latest edition of the DSM that provides readers with a patient-centred and psychopathology-focussed summary of the larger full text of DSM-5 that aims to ‘translate the printed diagnostic criteria and more disorder-centred organisation of DSM-5 into the lived experiences of patients’. Particularly for those clinicians seeking an introduction to the DSM structure, The Study Guide to DSM-5 aims and I feel succeeds in being more learner and user friendly than the full DSM text by employing clinical scenarios while introducing diagnostic classes and disorders.

This book is divided into three parts. Part I (Foundations) describes the importance but not singular importance of the diagnosis and reiterates that the aim of the Study Guide is to ‘combine the diagnostic criteria, clinical experience and study of relevant basic and applied sciences, to foster the development of professional judgement’. This book asserts the significance of the clinical interview and the biopsychosocial model in the continued advancement of professional judgement, the value and importance of a clinician’s evolution of professional judgement while utilising the DSM-5 and affirms that this study guide was designed to help clinicians at all levels of experience master the new DSM-5 diagnostic system. Of particular benefit to more junior trainees or those with less familiarity with the larger DSM-5 text is the inclusion of basic approaches and key points to the psychiatric interview, comprising aspects of professionalism in clinical interviewing and the four fundamental professional virtues of integrity, compassion, self-effacement and self-sacrifice, the importance of questioning style, rapport and listening skills during the patient interview, interviewing techniques for the more challenging historian, an introduction to the DSM-5 diagnostic framework of symptoms, diagnostic criteria and disorders, and a brief overview of the components of the mental state examination.

Part II introduces the DSM-5 diagnostic classes but once again with a case focussed, clinical-based approach and explicit learning outcomes, specifically the approach to each diagnostic class using principally the clinical history and patient interview. The diagnostic classes discussed in part II mirror section II of the larger DSM-5 text, with a dialogue of all diagnostic groups (but excluding the final chapters on other mental disorders, medication-induced movement disorders and other conditions that may be a focus of clinical attention). Each chapter examines one diagnostic class and pursues an identical structure to communicate to the reader the most pertinent points from the larger reference guide. This includes a general discussion to introduce the diagnostic class and the characteristic clinical features of the most common disorders included in this diagnostic class, a dialogue of any changes or updates included in the latest edition of the DSM and an ‘in-depth diagnosis’ segment.

This ‘in-depth diagnosis’ portion consists of a typical clinical case vignette (aspects from a classic patient history and collateral history, usual age of onset, environmental factors), an approach to the diagnosis (exploring the patient’s individual symptoms to attain the correct diagnosis, lifetime prevalence, risk factors), getting the history (constructive questioning style during the assessment), tips for clarifying the diagnosis (knowledge of the differing diagnostic criteria), considering the case (an additional typical case history), differential diagnosis (including only the most relevant disorders to consider) and summary of each disorder discussed. Each chapter also concludes with a summary of the diagnostic class, diagnostic pearls (key features of particular clinical importance) and a self-assessment section incorporating evaluation of key concepts, examples of questions to discuss with mentors/colleagues, case-based questions and short answer questions and answers. For additional information on specific diagnostic codes, criteria and conditions, the reader is referred back to the full DSM-5 text or supplementary reading references found at the end of each chapter.

Part III (Test Yourself) introduces 115 questions to help learners consolidate their knowledge of the concepts covered in the study guide, through the use of fictional cases that exemplify classic diagnoses from DSM-5, questions that highlight phenomena that relate to key diagnostic features or questions that test terms important for accurate understanding and communication of diagnoses in DSM-5.

Overall, the favourable features of this book include the common theme of clinically focussed, patient-centred introduction of diagnostic classes and disorders, and the use of this book as an introduction to the structure and presentation found in the larger DSM-5 manual, which would be particularly useful to basic postgraduate psychiatric specialist training (BST) or higher postgraduate psychiatric specialist training (HST) trainees during examination preparation or supervision with mentors and colleagues. However, it is not exhaustive in its inclusion of all disorders and does not include all specific diagnostic criteria. For this and further information, the reader is directed to the full list of diagnostic disorders in the larger DSM-5 text.