Workshop/ Swiss Association for Science Journalism/Interpharma
«How Normal is it to be Crazy? The DSM-5 Revision under Scrutiny»
15th /16th of November 2012, Hotel Balsthal, Balsthal
Moderators:
Beate Kittl, Swiss News Agency (SDA-ATS)
Felix Straumann, Tages-Anzeiger
Christophe Ungar, RTS - Swiss Television and Radio
(broadcasts 36.9°C and CQFD)
Language: English
Thursday, 15 November
17:30
Welcome
18:00-19:00 What is a Psychiatric Case?
(50' presentation + 10' discussion)
Prof. Wulf Rössler (University Zürich, Clinic for Social Psychiatry and General
Psychiatry)
Wulf Rössler is Professor of Clinical and Social Psychiatry at the University of Zurich and
the chairman of the Department for Social and General Psychiatry at the Psychiatric
University Hospital in Zurich.
His presentation will in particular deal with “caseness” in psychiatry and the consequences
for treatment and care. Since the 1960s psychiatry has experienced persistent criticism
about the utility and necessity of diagnoses. Indeed most diagnostic thresholds are
arbitrary or imposed on pragmatic grounds. Although training psychiatrists with the
current standard classification systems achieves an acceptable level of reproducibility of
psychiatric diagnoses, this fact alone does not mean that these diagnoses are valid.
19:00
Apéro, followed by dinner
Friday, 16 November
9:00-10:00
Why are the Current Revisions of the Old Psychiatric Manuals Important
and Necessary? (50' presentation + 10' discussion)
Prof. Norman Sartorius (Neurologist and Psychiatrist, Geneva)
Director of the Division of Mental Health of the WHO (1977-1993) during this time he was
also responsible for the development of the WHO classification of mental and neurological
disorders. Subsequently President of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) and of the
European Psychiatric Association. Involved in the development of the new revisions of the
classifications of mental disorders (ICD 11 and DSM 5).
His presentation will discuss the main problems that face those formulating the eleventh
revision of the International Classification of Mental Disorders (WHO’s ICD11) and the
Fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric
Association (DSM5). It will also address the question of limits between normal variations
of mood/behavior and mental illness.
10:00-11:00 Diagnostic Inflation and Excessive Use of Psychotropic Drugs
(50' presentation + 10' discussion)
Prof. Allen Frances (Duke University School of Medicine, USA)
Allen Frances was chair of the DSM-IV task force and is a critic of the proposed revisions
to the DSM-5. He also served as chair of the department of psychiatry at Duke University
School of Medicine. He is currently professor emeritus at Duke.
His presentation will be about the diagnostic inflation in psychiatry and the excessive use
of psychotropic drugs which he believes are harmful to individuals and to society. He will
also cover the question of why experts in any given field are inherently untrustworthy
guides on questions relating to public policy.
11:00-11:30 Coffee break
11:30-12:30 Consequences of the DSM-5 for Medical doctors, Patients and the Health
System in Switzerland (50' presentation + 10' discussion)
Prof. Werner Strik (Psychiatric Services, University of Bern (UPD))
Prof. Werner Strik is director of the University Hospital of Psychiatry, Bern. He presided
over the psychophysiology section of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) from 19992006.
His presentation will discuss the influence of the DSM-5 on international psychiatric
research and practice, as well as on the Swiss health system. He will further elaborate
how several changes, in particular in the fields of psychosis and personality disorders,
influence a patient’s and a doctor’s approach to understand and to treat these disorders.
12:30-14:00 Lunch
14:00-15:00 How does the Pharmaceutical Industry Influence and Interfere with the
DSM Revision Process? (50' presentation + 10' discussion)
Prof. Christopher Lane, (Northwestern University, USA)
Christopher Lane teaches intellectual history and literature at Northwestern University
and is a recent Guggenheim fellow. He has authored five books, including “Shyness: How
Normal Behavior Became a Sickness” and is a regular blogger for “Psychology Today”.
His presentation will argue that despite tighter control in the DSM-5, both explicit and
behind-the-scenes lobbying by drug companies for DSM categories continues: indirectly
via drug-company sponsorship of psychiatric and pharmacological research, and from the
vast sums spent on direct-to-consumer advertising.
15:00-15:30 Coffee break
15:30-17:00 Crazy and Ill, or Simply Different? (panel discussion)
Norman Sartorius
Allen Frances
Werner Strik
Christopher Lane
Moderator: Christophe Ungar