Anxiety and Related Disorders in DSM-5

Abstract Since the publication of the 3rd edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III), this classification system has not only drawn on empirical investigations of anxiety and related disorders, but has also played a key role in influencing clinical practice and research. After the publication of the DSM-IV, work on the anxiety and related disorders continued to accumulate, so that publication of DSM-5 provided a timely opportunity to review this body of research. This chapter reviews some of the key decisions taken by DSM-5 with regard to the anxiety disorders, the obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, and the trauma- and stressor-related disorders, including the decision to revise the metastructure and establish these new groupings and to address a number of the notable controversies and criticisms that have been put forward from within and without the field.