DSM-5 & Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Disorder, with Dr. Greg Lengel

In 2013, the 5th edition of the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) was released, and for the first time it included Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Disorder as a Condition for Further Study. It is not an actual diagnosis at this time, but there are  currently six criteria listed (see below, bottom of page). In this episode, Dr. Greg Lengel from Drake University in Iowa walks us through what research says about each of the six criteria, and he discusses the pros and cons of formalizing NSSI Disorder as a diagnosis.

Listen to his interview with Dr. Brooke Ammerman from Season 3 ("How Should Self-Harm Be Defined?") here. Learn more about Dr. Lengel at his faculty profile at Drake University here and follow him on Twitter/X at @DrGregLengel. Below are links to many of the papers discussed in this episode as well as other important papers on NSSI as a disorder in the DSM-5:

1. Shaffer, D., & Jacobson, C. (2009). Proposal to the DSM-V childhood disorder and mood disorder work groups to include non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) as a DSM-V disorder. American Psychiatric Association, 1-21.
2. Lengel, G. J., Ammerman, B. A., & Washburn, J. J. (2023). NSSI in the DSM-5. In E. E. Lloyd-Richardson, I. Baetens, & J. Whitlock (Vol. Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury. New York: Oxford University Press .
3. Lengel, G. J., Ammerman, B. A., & Washburn, J. J. (2022). Clarifying the definition of nonsuicidal self-injury: Clinician and researcher perspectives. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, 43, 119-126.
4. Lengel, G. J. & Mullins-Sweatt, S. N. (2013). Nonsuicidal self-injury disorder: Clinician and expert ratings. Psychiatry Research, 210, 940-944.
5. Ammerman, B. A., Jacobucci, R., Kleiman, E. M., Muehlenkamp, J. J., & McCloskey, M. S. (2017). Development and validation of empirically derived frequency criteria for NSSI disorder using exploratory data mining. Psychological Assessment, 29, 221-231.
6. Ammerman, B. A., Jacobucci, R., & McCloskey, M. S. (2019). Reconsidering important outcomes of the nonsuicidal self‐injury disorder diagnostic criterion A. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 75, 1084-1097.
7. Ammerman, B. A., Lengel, G. J, & Washburn J. J. (2021). Consideration of clinician and researcher opinions on the parameters of nonsuicidal self-injury disorder diagnostic criteria. Psychiatry Research, 296, 113642.
8. Ghinea, D., Edinger, A., Parzer, P., Koenig, J., Resch, F., & Kaess, M. (2020). .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}