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 Health 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
