The Forthcoming DSM-5, Critical Care Medicine, and Pediatric Neuropsychiatry: Which New Concepts Do We Need?

Examination and comparison of the current DSM-IV-TR and the proposed revisions for the forthcoming DSM-5, with regard to neuropsychiatric aspects of critical illness, identified five important issues. These remain to be addressed in order to improve the care of critically ill patients. These are 1) sickness behavior, as part of the organic reaction types of the brain; 2) delirium in children and the "Differential Diagnosis of Mental Disorders Due to a General Medical Condition" in children; 3) catatonia; 4) regressive disorders in childhood in relation to somatic disorders (e.g., anti-NMDAR encephalitis); 5) age-related diagnostic criteria in relation to neuropsychiatric disorders.