3 - Development of the nosology of anxiety disorders

Summary

This chapter follows the evolution of the nosology of the anxiety disorders through various editions of the APA's Diagnostic and Statistical Manuals (DSM) and culminates with a summary of some of the possible changes that might occur in the classification of anxiety disorders in DSM-5. Present-day anxiety disorders were also covered in some of the other DSM-I groupings. Given increased attention to disorders specifically related to children and adolescents, a new grouping, behavior disorders of childhood and adolescence, was added in DSM-II. The DSM-III diagnostic criteria for panic disorder were based on the Feighner criteria for anxiety neurosis. DSM-III-R field trials were conducted for agoraphobia without history of panic disorder (AWOPD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). One new anxiety disorder was added to DSM-IV, acute stress disorder. The grouping of related disorders into spectra is a novel organizational approach proposed for DSM-5.