Psychiatrists drop Asperger’s syndrome and gender identity disorder from new diagnosis manual
Asperger’s syndrome is to be dropped from the psychiatrists’ Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of Mental Disorders, the American publication that is one of the most influential references for the profession around the world.
The term “Asperger’s disorder” will not appear in the DSM-5, the latest revision of the manual, and instead its symptoms will come under the newly added “autism spectrum disorder”, which is already used widely. That umbrella diagnosis will include children with severe autism, who often do not talk or interact, as well as those with milder forms.
The British hacker Gary McKinnon is diagnosed with Asperger’s and it contributed to a government decision not to extradite him from Britain to the US on cybercrime charges.
The DSM is used in a number of countries to varying degrees. Psychiatrists in some countries including Britain use the International Classification of Diseases published by the World Health Organisation or a combination of both handbooks.
In other changes to the DSM, abnormally bad and frequent temper tantrums will be diagnosed as