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

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Summary: The DSM-IV Made Easy
Review: I do not know how I would have gotten through my first experience having to use the DSM as a diagnostic tool for my graduate work in psychopathology without this book. I used it to work up all my case presentations, and they were always accurate. Thank you, James Morrison!

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Summary: pass your board exam!
Review: 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!

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Summary: Invaluable resource!
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: An invaluable tool in tackling the complexity of DSM IV.
Review: 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.

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Summary: Better than DSM!
Review: 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.

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Summary: A practical explanation of the DSM-IV
Review: This book provides a practical explanation of the "DSM-IV" that will appeal to anyone who wants a thorough, simplified description of this complex book. I'm only giving it four stars because I don't think it provides an explanation of the latest changes made in the "DSM-IV-TR". The book will nonetheless appeal to nearly anyone seeking to improve their grasp of psychiatry, not just psychiatrists in training. Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind".

Rating:
Summary: A practical explanation of the DSM-IV
Review: This book provides a practical explanation of the "DSM-IV" that will appeal to anyone who wants a thorough, simplified description of this complex book. I'm only giving it four stars because I don't think it provides an explanation of the latest changes made in the "DSM-IV-TR". The book will nonetheless appeal to nearly anyone seeking to improve their grasp of psychiatry, not just psychiatrists in training. Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind".

Rating:
Summary: Makes the DSM-IV a bit more palatable (no small feat)
Review: This book summarizes the major taxonomies of the DSM-IV, and includes scenarios illustrating most of the major categories and sub-pathologies. Unlike the standard texts which seems to have been developed by a group of obsessive compulsive personalities or, as a character in a recent play claims, "a coven," this one has some humanity to it, and it's even funny at times. If you're a student it may also reduce physical disorders such as aching backs, and dislocated shoulders which the original may cause if you have to lug it around your university. Did the original text creators ever consider this? It also has a nicer cover. It also may save you money since the DSM-V is no doubt lurking on the horizon, not having been revised for 8 years or so.

Rating:
Summary: Makes the DSM-IV a bit more palatable (no small feat)
Review: This book summarizes the major taxonomies of the DSM-IV, and includes scenarios illustrating most of the major categories and sub-pathologies. Unlike the standard texts which seems to have been developed by a group of obsessive compulsive personalities or, as a character in a recent play claims, "a coven," this one has some humanity to it, and it's even funny at times. If you're a student it may also reduce physical disorders such as aching backs, and dislocated shoulders which the original may cause if you have to lug it around your university. Did the original text creators ever consider this? It also has a nicer cover. It also may save you money since the DSM-V is no doubt lurking on the horizon, not having been revised for 8 years or so.

Rating:
Summary: Invaluable resource!
Review: This is a great resource for anyone who is interested in more illustrative examples of the various diagnoses than is provided by the DSM-IV. Morrison's use of interesting vignettes will keep your attention, and make differential diagnosis a lot more fun! After reading this book, any diagnostician will be much more informed as to how to recognize the various disorders and the nuances between the differentials.