The Potential Contribution of the Cognitive-Behavioral Model for the Classification of Emotional Disorders

Abstract

The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) has been criticized for using arbitrary criteria to define mental disorders based on subjective data. The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) initiative offers an alternative system that also considers biological and behavioral data, but shares the DSM-5’s reliance on the latent disease model. Moreover, neither the DSM-5 nor RDoC provides any concrete treatment guidelines. In contrast, the cognitive behavioral model offers an empirically-based framework for a treatment-relevant classification system by focusing on maintaining rather than initiating factors. In contrast to the latent disease model of the DSM-5 and RDoC, the cognitive-behavioral framework is consistent with a complex causal network system network approach, which assumes that maladaptive cognitions and behaviors settle into a pathological state causing emotional distress. This framework offers concrete treatment implications while avoiding many shortcomings of a latent disease model.