In through the out door: a commentary on "personality disorders are the vanguard of the post-DSM-5.0 era"

Abstract

Comments on an article by Krueger (see record 2013-45025-008). Pincus thanks Krueger for sharing his candid, highly informative views on the process and outcome of the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association; APA, 2013) Personality Disorder (PD) Work Group. As an "outsider," Pincus identifies with Krueger's descriptions of the scholarly anxiety evoked by following the unfolding process via the dsm5 .org Web site. In the end, however, Pincus thinks Section III is the right place for the proposal. He feels that its developmental process was more ambitious, but also more circuitous, than other revision efforts. Despite the APA's rejection of the proposal for Section II, Pincus agrees with Krueger's vision that continued research on viable aspects of the system represents an important next step in the post-DSM-5.0 era, and the system's inclusion in Section III should provide additional impetus for new research that advances the science of personality pathology. Thus, Pincus takes the optimistic view that innovation in conceptualizing and diagnosing PD has actually made it in through the out door. He notes that how things progress from here is hard to predict.