From Peter Wilson
Your editorial discusses the American Psychiatric Association’s failure to agree a new system of diagnosing personality disorders for the next edition of its handbook, DSM-5 (8 December 2012, p 5).
While improving the system would help to ensure that the correct diagnosis is given, the problem of inadequate availability of psychotherapy has not gone away.
In the UK’s National ÎçÒ¹¸£Àû1000¼¯ºÏ Service, for example, there are insufficient psychotherapists with training and experience of the treatment of personality disorders. There is also the issue of stigma. Some patients might prefer to stick with a wrong diagnosis for this reason.
Glasgow, UK
