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Tracy Hampton, PhD

JAMA. 2007;298:275-276.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The authors of a newly published mental health diagnostic manual hope their work will improve the diagnosis of mental health conditions in people who have intellectual disabilities. These individuals are more likely than those in the general population to experience psychiatric disorders, yet diagnosis is often more difficult. Intellectual disability refers to what used to be called mental retardation. (The American Association on Mental Retardation is now the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.)

"People with intellectual disabilities can have significant impairment in expressive as well as receptive language skills, which makes self-reports of symptoms, feelings, and behaviors very challenging," said chief editor Robert Fletcher, DSW, CEO of the National Association for the Dually Diagnosed, in Kingston, NY. Determining an accurate psychiatric diagnosis becomes especially difficult as the level of intellectual functioning declines.

A new mental health diagnostic manual will help clinicians apply the DSM-IV criteria . . . [Full Text of this Article]

BUILDING ON THE DSM-IV