title: Through a glass darkly: the disutility of the DSM nosology of depressive disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To demonstrate that the dimension-weighted DSM-IV model for classifying the depressive disorders lacks utility.
  
  
  METHODS
  The logical flaws in classifying the depressive disorders with any severity-based model (which underpin both the DSM-IV and ICD-10 systems) are noted. Integral definitional limitations to the DSM-IV definition of key depressive disorders are identified. It is argued that the DSM-IV classificatory system lacks utility for providing information on etiology and preferential management strategies. An alternative subtyping model is considered.
  
  
  RESULTS
  It is asserted that, in practice, the DSM-IV model and criteria lack explanatory power and compromise research and clinical practice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is hoped that this article evokes wider debate about modelling and classifying the depressive disorders.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. g.parker@unsw.edu.au
authors.forename: Gordon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Parker
mesh_terms: D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results