Quick Reference to the Diagnostic Criteria from Dsm-IV-Tr

The Quick Reference guide is great. If you are student in counseling or clinic psychology this book will extend the life off your back, due to its light weight and smallness of stature. It contains the criteria for all mental illness in the DSM-IV-TR and is handy. One reviewer said that it is the only DSM that you will ever need. That person is correct.

It is exactly what it says, a quick reference. If you are buying it for clinical work for quick referencing in staff meetings it is perfect however it does not replace the full DSM for thorough case studies. If you need a quick and small reference, I would suggest buying this book.

This is so much easier than carrying the huge book around. It is short and sweet. I do have to refer to "the big one" from time to time, but love this little thing!

I used this booklet as a quick reference in my work in a hospital ER and in doing intakes. It's meant to simply be a handy reference to the DSM criteria, and can't replace the study, consultation, and experience needed to understand the difference between clinically problematic and non-problematic behavior. If you work within the DSM/ICD/insurance system, and you've heard the phrase "justify your diagnosis" before, here's an invaluable and pocket-sized (well, for a big pocket) tool.

This is a modest little book that you can fit into your pocket but it does everything that its big brother (the much more expensive, full version of the DSM IV-TR) does -- at half the price and with greater ease of use. While the unabridged DSM IV is pretty much a textbook of psychiatry, minus only treatment recommendations, this abridgement unpretentiously lists just the diagnostic categories and the relevent (concisely phrased) criteria. Professionals will find it a handy source of symptoms and diagnosis for insurance purposes. Non-professionals will find it usable for the purpose of diagnosing themselves, their spouse, their parents and problematic friends.