ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the people and events surrounding the American Psychiatric Association's decision to include a premenstrually related diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-III-R. It is interesting to note that in the alphabetic and numerical listings in the DSM-III-R, the code number Late Luteal Phase Dysphoric Disorder was 307.90 as defined by the Board of Trustees. The American Psychiatric Association charge to the Work Group was to clarify ambiguities, resolve any inconsistencies, and incorporate factual changes and new cultural syndromes based upon scientific data that had accumulated since publication of the DSM-III in 1980. The goal of getting the DSM-III-R published was central to Robert Spitzer. In terms of Periluteal phase dysphoric disorder, they argued specifically in their official statement that "scientific evidence was still lacking for a premenstrual syndrome diagnosis, considering its potential for stigmatizing women by linking a psychiatric disorder with the menstrual cycle".
