DSM-IV Made Easy: The Clinician's Guide to Diagnosis (Hardcover)

~ James Morrison MD (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a book to refer to when you need quick, clear information on a specific mental condition or diagnosis....Students wanting to test their ability to identify symptoms and signs embedded in the case vignettes can compare their observations with the author's notes. Faculty members may use the case vignettes as examples in class. Occupational therapy practitioners working in non-mental health settings may find this an easy way to update their understanding of DSM-IV language."/m-/The American Journal of Occupational Therapy (Virginia Carroll Stoffel, October 1996)

"....Morrison's book is like a good workshop explaining the DSM-IV: useful simplifications and practical tips. He also offers cases to help learn the diagnostic criteria. There is a nice appendix which shows how general medical disorders may impact different psychiatric diagnoses. There is an eight page double column index. This would make a good textbook for training mental health professionals."/m-/Clinical Gerontologist 16:3

"Designed to cut through the detail and complexity of the DSM IV, Morrison gives the reader a user-friendly reference book to use in making adult diagnoses or in learning about diagnostic thinking...DSM IV MADE EASY was designed to be accessible to students and experienced clinicians from all the mental health professions...the tone of the book is conversational, personal, and lively. Morrison's presentation of the diagnostic process was neither obfuscating nor mystifying. The reader is ¿walked through' the diagnostic process in a way that, especially to the student, would make evaluation seem manageable and masterable...Morrison's book has much to recommend it...It is a useful companion to the DSM IV, especially because of the vignettes, simplified language and criteria, and gentle pedagogical style."/m-/Clinical Social Work Journal

"Compared to the 900-page DSM IV, [this] book has simpler language, useful explanations of psychiatric terms, chatty diagnostic ¿tips,' and simplified criteria lists for the disorders. Unlike the DSM, which was put together by a committee with the goal of providing standards for research as well as clinical practice, DSM-IV MADE EASY was designed to be accessible to students and experienced clinicians from all the mental health professions....The tone of the book is conversational, personal, and lively." \m-\ Clinical Social Work Journal

"This book helps professional quickly learn how to apply the new criteria to patients. Every DSM-IV diagnosis is simplified and interpreted, emphasizing what a clinician needs to know most when making a diagnosis."/m-/ADOLESCENCE
-- Review

A skillful writer, a highly experienced clinician, an excellent teacher, Dr. James Morrison has authored a book that should be of interest to a wide audience including psychiatrists and other mental health professionals, as well as some people whose interest in the subject has nothing to do with a professional orientation. I believe the reader will learn much about psychiatric diagnosis, including its current strengths and weaknesses and a good deal about its underlying philosophy and importance -- Samuel B. Guze, M.D., Spencer T. Olin Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine

An extremely useful text....Morrison has put life' into the DSM-IV criteria with his strategic use of strong vignettes and important tips' for using psychiatric code....A real contribution to the thorny problem of constructing meaningful descriptions of patients' difficulties -- Jane Close Conoley, Ph.D.

This is an invaluable text. Morrison's richly descriptive cases make the otherwise lifeless DSM-IV come alive. If you have this book, you have everything you need -- Ilene J. Philipson, Ph.D.

Review

"DSM-IV Made Easy helps the mental health clinician arrive at the most appropriate diagnosis for a given patient. This well-written, easy-to-read volume not only lists the applicable criteria, but also discusses them and provides useful tips about many disorders. Case vignettes supplement the text and add 'clinical flavor' to our classification system. A most useful guide for practitioners."--David L. Dunner, MD, FACPsych, Director, Center for Anxiety and Depression, and Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington

 

"An extremely useful text....Morrison has put 'life' into the DSM-IV criteria with his strategic use of strong vignettes and important 'tips' for using psychiatric code....A real contribution to the thorny problem of constructing meaningful descriptions of patients' difficulties." --Jane Close Conoley, Ph.D.

"Morrison's guide is an accurate and well-organized companion to DSM-IV and is most useful for medical students, psychiatric trainees, professionals in mental health, and coders who use DSM-IV classification rules." --Max Fink, State University of New York, Stonybrook, NY

"A skillful writer, a highly experienced clinician, an excellent teacher, Dr. James Morrison has authored a book that should be of interest to a wide audience including psychiatrists and other mental health professionals, as well as some people whose interest in the subject has nothing to do with a professional orientation. I believe the reader will learn much about psychiatric diagnosis, including its current strengths and weaknesses and a good deal about its underlying philosophy and importance." --Samuel B. Guze, M.D., Spencer T. Olin Professor and Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri

"In DSM-IV Made Easy, James Morrison, M.D., translates the diagnostic criteria of DSM-IV into a user friendly guide for all mental health workers. He enlivens the guide with instructive vignettes highlighting their clinical significance by a diagnostic evaluation. Coding notes help the reader to affix to Axes I - III the proper identifying numbers on these case reports. Throughout the text, he smartly positions his editorials in which he discusses historical aspects, his tips in which he points out clinically significant observations for the differential diagnosis, and his extra credits in which he frequently provides synonyms for DSM-IV terms. He summarizes a wealth of clinical signs in practically organized tables. Congratulations, James, to a marvelous contribution to the library of our invisible college of descriptive psychiatry founded at Washington University in St. Louis in the Show-Me State." --Ekkehard Othmer, M.D., Ph.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of Kansas Medical Center and Sieglinde C. Othmer, Ph.D., authors of The Clinical Interview Using DSM-IV. Vol 1.: Fundamentals, Vol. 2.: The Difficult Patient

"This is a book to refer to when you need quick, clear information on a specific mental condition or diagnosis....Students wanting to test their ability to identify symptoms and signs embedded in the case vignettes can compare their observations with the author's notes. Faculty members may use the case vignettes as examples in class. Occupational therapy practitioners working in non-mental health settings may find this an easy way to update their understanding of DSM-IV language."/m-/The American Journal of Occupational Therapy (Virginia Carroll Stoffel, October 1996)

"....Morrison's book is like a good workshop explaining the DSM-IV: useful simplifications and practical tips. He also offers cases to help learn the diagnostic criteria. There is a nice appendix which shows how general medical disorders may impact different psychiatric diagnoses. There is an eight page double column index. This would make a good textbook for training mental health professionals."/m-/Clinical Gerontologist 16:3

"Designed to cut through the detail and complexity of the DSM IV, Morrison gives the reader a user-friendly reference book to use in making adult diagnoses or in learning about diagnostic thinking...DSM IV MADE EASY was designed to be accessible to students and experienced clinicians from all the mental health professions...the tone of the book is conversational, personal, and lively. Morrison's presentation of the diagnostic process was neither obfuscating nor mystifying. The reader is ¿walked through' the diagnostic process in a way that, especially to the student, would make evaluation seem manageable and masterable...Morrison's book has much to recommend it...It is a useful companion to the DSM IV, especially because of the vignettes, simplified language and criteria, and gentle pedagogical style."/m-/Clinical Social Work Journal

"Compared to the 900-page DSM IV, [this] book has simpler language, useful explanations of psychiatric terms, chatty diagnostic ¿tips,' and simplified criteria lists for the disorders. Unlike the DSM, which was put together by a committee with the goal of providing standards for research as well as clinical practice, DSM-IV MADE EASY was designed to be accessible to students and experienced clinicians from all the mental health professions....The tone of the book is conversational, personal, and lively." \m-\ Clinical Social Work Journal

"This book helps professional quickly learn how to apply the new criteria to patients. Every DSM-IV diagnosis is simplified and interpreted, emphasizing what a clinician needs to know most when making a diagnosis."/m-/ADOLESCENCE

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 594 pages
• Publisher: Guilford Press; 1 edition (February 17, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898625688
• ISBN-13: 978-0898625684
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #17,137 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

96 of 98 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than DSM!, April 12, 1998

By A Customer

The author has done an excellent job of taking the DSM diagnostic criteria and adding tips, additional information, and commentary. Perhaps, most importantly, he devotes most of the book to those diagnoses that a clinician is most likely to encounter in the "real world" while giving relatively little attention to the more esoteric disorders. I especially liked his advice on how to do decide which diagnosis is the more likely to be accurate. The book also contains vignettes to demonstrate how the appropriate information can be elicited to do an accurate diagnosis. I have found that this book is not only more useful than the DSM; I no longer need the DSM.

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An invaluable tool in tackling the complexity of DSM IV., July 7, 2000

By	Craig Bauer (Tiffin, OH United States) - See all my reviews

Morrison does an excellent job of breaking down the complex difficulties of diagnosis into a manageable, thorough and above all readable guide. Where DSM - IV is daunting and impersonal, DSM-IV Made Easy guides the reader with an evident understanding of the difficulties faced not only by the uninitiated but also the experienced. Well written vignettes help bring DSM's disorders to life and step by step diagnoses are invaluable tools in learning to apply DSM's vast criteria. This book is organized, detailed, accessible and all but essential in wading through the tricky waters of DSM IV.

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars pass your board exam!, January 29, 2000

By	aracely neeley, LMSW-ACP (texas) - See all my reviews

I really loved this book! it was a great tool to help pass my board exam (ACP/social work), i studied it faithfully and didn't even bother studying the DSM IV manual. this book is well written and VERY easy to comprehend difficult diagnosis. i recommend it strongly if you are entering the psychiatric field and you are not a psychiatrist!