Robert L. Spitzer is a Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University in New York City, United States and is on the research faculty of the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. Spitzer received his bachelor's degree in psychology from Cornell University and his M.D. from New York University School of Medicine in 1957.[1][2] He was chair of the task force of the third edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) which was released in 1980. He was a major architect of the modern classification of mental disorders which involves classifying mental disorders in discrete categories, with specified diagnostic criteria, but became a vocal critic of the process.
Critique of DSM
Spitzer features in the 2007 BBC TV series The Trap, in which he says that psychiatry medicalized the condition of possibly 20 to 30 percent of people, which he considers to be a problem.[3] He has become one of the most vocal critics of the revisions to DSM.[4]
Views on homosexuality
In 2001, Spitzer delivered a controversial paper at the 2001 annual APA meeting arguing that highly motivated individuals could successfully change their sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. The APA issued an official disavowal of the paper, noting that it had not been peer reviewed and stating that "There is no published scientific evidence supporting the efficacy of reparative therapy as a treatment to change one's sexual orientation."[5]
Two years later, the paper was peer reviewed and published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.[6] The publication decision sparked controversy and one sponsoring member resigned in protest. The paper has been criticized for its sampling methods and criteria for success.[7]
Books
- Christopher Lane : Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness, Publisher: Yale University Press; 2008, ISBN 0300143176
Incomplete works
- Critical Issues in Psychiatric Diagnosis (mit Donald F. Klein), Raven 1978, ISBN 0-89004-213-6
- Dsm 111 Casebook, American Psychiatric Publications 1981, ISBN 0-89042-051-3
- Treatment of Mental Disorders (mit James W. Jefferson), Oxford University Press 1982, ISBN 0-19-503107-5
- Psychopathology, a Case Book (mit Janet B.W. Williams und Andrew E. Skodol), McGraw-Hill 1983, ISBN 0-07-060350-2
- DSM-111 Case Book: Casebook to 3r.e (Diagnostic), Cambridge University Press, 1985, ISBN 0-521-31530-1
- APA: Desk Reference to DSM III R: Desk Reference to the Diagnostic Criteria of 3r.e (Diagnostic), Cambridge University Press, 1987, ISBN 0-521-34693-2
- An Annotated Bibliography of Dsm III, 1987, ISBN 0-88048-257-5
- Scid-P, 1990, ISBN 0-88048-411-X
- Dsm-IV Casebook: A Learning Companion to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 1994, ISBN 0-88048-675-9
- Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I), 1997, ISBN 0-88048-931-6
- International Perspectives on Dms-Iii, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, American Psychiatric Association 1998, ISBN 0-88048-017-3
- Dsm-IV-Tr Casebook: A Learning Companion to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, American Psychiatric Association 2002, ISBN 1-58562-058-0
- Treatment Companion to the Dsm-IV-Tr Casebook, American Psychiatric Association 2004, ISBN 1-58562-139-0
- Dsm-IV-Tr Casebook, Volume 2, American Psychiatric Association 2006, ISBN 1-58562-219-2
References
- ^ Drescher, Jack (2006). "An Interview with Robert L. Spitzer, M.D.". In Drescher, John; Zucker, Kenneth J. (eds.). Ex-Gay Research: Analyzing the Spitzer Study and Its Relation to Science, Religion, Politics, and Culture. Routledge. p. 325.
- ^ Spiegel, Alix (January 3, 2005). "The Dictionary of Disorder". The New Yorker. Retrieved April 16, 2010.
- ^ Robert Spitzer (March 2007). The Trap. BBC via The Internet Archive. Event occurs at Part 2 at 34:10. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
- ^ Stein, Rob (February 10, 2010). "Revision to the bible of psychiatry, DSM, could introduce new mental disorders". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
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(help) - ^ GayHealth: Home
- ^ Can Some Gay Men and Lesbians Change Their Sexual Orientation? 200 Participants Reporting a Change from Homosexual to Heterosexual Orientation (Archives of Sexual Behavior, October 2003, p.403-417) PMID 14567650
- ^ Analysis of Dr. Spitzer's study of reparative therapy