Attitudes of Turkish psychiatrists towards DSM-III-R

In 1994, a 14 item Questionnaire was given to 111 Turkish psychiatrists to determine the attitudes towards DSM-III-R. About 97% of the psychiatrists stated that a descriptive classification system is necessary. Eighty-three percent of the psychiatrists used the DSM system, 11.7% the ICD and 5.3% neither of them. Axis I was used by 98.1%. A statistically significant relationship existed between the subjects' affiliation department and the theoretical orientation of their psychiatric education and the question if the DSM-III-R criteria are too detailed and complicated to use to get a diagnosis. It was also a significant relationship between the subjects' institution and the question if the DSM-III-R focuses on signs and symptoms so much that it detracts from a more in depth understanding of the patients' problems. We believe that national surveys on classification systems will have positive effects on the improvement of a common psychiatric language.