I remember being startled by his honesty. After all, over the years, critics have derided the DSM as being an arbitrary exercise in decision by committee. Bob’s answer, essentially, was, that’s right – but it’s the best we could do given the limitations of our scientific knowledge.
Our patients’ suffering is long, and our understanding of the brain is short. Bob Spitzer provided both psychiatrists and patients with an enduring language that creating meaningful landmarks – a coherent geography of pain. The language has been tweaked over the years, but the underlying classification method has stood the test of time.
Bob Spitzer left us the legacy of the DSM, but he left us so much more. Honesty, generosity, and an unquenchable passion for getting important things right – these are the qualities that I remember and hope to emulate whenever I think of him. That, and his delicious cheese omelets.
Dr. Carlat, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Tufts University, Boston, is editor in chief of The Carlat Psychiatry Report, a monthly newsletter on psychopharmacology. He is the author of “The Psychiatric Interview,” (LWW, 2011), and “Unhinged: The Trouble With Psychiatry – A Doctor’s Revelations About a Profession in Crisis,” (Free Press, 2010).