In short, in many respects DSM IV represents a regression of knowledge rather than an accretion of it. This does not mean that it will be replaced soon by something better, for powerful vested interests have now developed to prevent it. Although the pharmaceutical companies did not influence the development of DSM IV, it has been an immense boon to them, for under its auspices almost all human behaviour becomes a medical condition potentially treatable with medications; lawyers love it because it makes so many events actionable under tort law; governments love it because unhappiness becomes an illness rather than a natural consequence of social arrangements; and patients love it because it absolves them of the painful responsibilities of their own humanity.

In short, this is a brilliant book with a significance well beyond its narrow but important subject. It will be ignored.

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