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Thursday, May 23, 2013

New Mental-Health Manual Likely to Impact HR

Making accommodations for employees with mental disabilities has never been easy, and it's about to get more difficult with the release of the American Psychiatric Association's new manual of mental disorders.

By James J. McDonald, Jr.
Human Resource Executive Online
Originally published May 22, 2013

In psychiatry, unlike other branches of medicine, there is no laboratory test that can confirm the existence of a particular mental disorder. Psychiatrists and other mental health professionals rely on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, known as "DSM-5" to diagnose patients. The American Psychiatric Association has just released a new fifth edition of the manual and human resources executives should take note. It contains new diagnostic categories not listed in its predecessor and loosens the criteria for some diagnoses which will likely result in more people qualifying for these diagnoses. DSM-5 is likely to impact HR by expanding the number of employees who will qualify as disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act and be entitled to reasonable accommodation.

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New Diagnoses

DSM-5 adds several new diagnoses that employers are likely to find vexing. One is "Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder," which describes persons whose communication skills are impaired but who do not qualify for an autism diagnosis. It applies to persons with "persistent difficulties in the social use of verbal and nonverbal communications" that limit social relationships or occupational performance. While typically diagnosed in childhood it can continue into adulthood. Employees previously thought to be merely shy or socially awkward may qualify for this new diagnosis.

Another new diagnosis is "Binge Eating Disorder," a condition characterized primarily by eating a large amount of food in a short time at least once per week for three months. DSM-5 notes that while most overweight persons do not engage in recurrent binge-eating, Binge Eating Disorder is "reliably associated with overweight and obesity."  Thus, this diagnosis makes it more likely that obesity (at least when precipitated by binge-eating) might finally qualify as a disability under the ADA.