Perfect for those seeking to better understand their own psychopathology or to brush up on psychiatry or psychiatric methodology. It is one step short of the DSM itself but provides much of the resources of that manual and is perfect for a layman's understanding of what diagnostics are used and how diagnoses are reached in the clinical setting. Ideal for patients wanting to know more about their diagnoses, or for students of Psychology, Social Work, Public Health, and especially Medicine to have as a carry-around reference for quick look-through advice on how to evaluate their prospective patients or model-patients in theory exercises.

Very convenient and compact. Decent quality but only when ordered new and sold from Amazon (ship/sold by Amazon). I initially purchased an used copy from a third party seller and book was very poor quality, also appeared to be an illegal copy of the original. Paper was very thin, pages were not straight, and some pages were not cut. The cover also looked different than the new version sold by Amazon. The book from Amazon did not have any quality problems and was on heavier paper.

This small format is very convenient and I use it almost every day. You need to know that the paper is equivalent to a Time magazine page - thin and will rip in the ringbinder, especially if you do not make sure each time you turn a page that it's not catching in the rings. The book works, but you will need to treat it carefully or the pages will rip. And $53 dollars. That's a lot. Maybe you can get a discounted copy now that it's been out for while.

This item was listed as new but the cover looks worn on both sides/lower quality. (See photos attached, this is how the book arrived even though it was packaged well).
Other than the cover it is nice and serves it's purpose, and is a very good price.
Desk Reference to the Diagnostic Criteria from DSM-5(TM)

Have to have it for my profession so really no choice in the matter. I'm just not a fan of over-pathologizing people which is exactly what the DSM-5 will do. It was likely financially and politically driven and perhaps by pharmaceutical companies so now everyone will have a mental illness and everyone with need medication. The overall quality of the book compared to previous spiral desk references is greatly reduced with the metal spiral that will more easily tear pages whereas previous version had a wide plastic spiral that lasted for years without damage. Oh well.