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Diagnostic Manual – Intellectual Disability (DM-ID 2): Textbook of Diagnosis of Mental Disorders in Persons With Intellectual Disability
There has been an increased awareness in the diagnosis of mental disorders in people with intellectual disability (ID). The evidence base has demonstrated that people with ID can display the same mental disorders as the general population and that the prevalence of such disorders varies according to the methods used for their assessment and diagnosis. The diagnosis of mental disorders in people with ID is a highly complex process mostly because of the difficulty or inability of some people with ID to express their feelings and symptoms. Hence, many of the diagnostic criteria for mental disorders used in the general population needed to be modified and adapted for people with ID.
The National Association for Persons with Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health Needs (NADD) has been among the leading organizations in the U.S. and internationally in providing educational and training programs, support for research projects, and publicizing important clinical and policy issues regarding people with mental disorders and ID.
In 2007, the NADD published the Diagnostic Manual - Intellectual Disability (DM-ID; Fletcher, Loschen, Stavrakaki, & First, 2007) as a companion to the American Psychiatric Association's (APA; 2000) manual for psychiatric diagnosis (i.e., the DSM-IV-TR) to assist clinicians in making more accurate diagnoses for people with ID. Approximately ten years later, with the APA's (2013) publication of their updated manual (i.e., the DSM-5), the NADD published the Diagnostic Manual - Intellectual Disability (DMID 2): Textbook of Diagnosis of Mental Disorders in Persons with Intellectual Disability (DM-ID 2: Fletcher, Barnhill, & Cooper, 2017) for people with ID, having taken into consideration the changes introduced by the DSM-5.
The editors of the DM-ID 2 stated that their book is designed to provide state-of-the-art knowledge of mental disorders for people with ID. The DM-ID 2 was compiled by "a multicentered, multicultural, and multifaceted" (p. 9) collaboration of over 100 clinicians, researchers, and practitioners with expertise in mental disorders and ID who worked in 26 working groups over a period of four years. A chairperson was assigned for each working group. A summary of the main points of the DM-ID 2 has also been published separately (Fletcher, Barnhill, McCarthy, & Strydom, 2016).