In addition, the next manual will see some more changes. They include:

-- Combining substance abuse and substance dependence into one overarching category called "Substance use disorder."

Kupfer says this makes sense because it allows experts to more easily diagnose some with an alcohol and/or drug problem by looking at a continuum of severity. He says this may also lead to earlier diagnoses, which might allow for appropriate interventions to be applied more easily.

"Previous substance abuse criteria required only one symptom while the DSM-5's mild substance use disorder requires two to three symptoms," the APA said in a statement.

-- Hoarding will now be in a category of its own, which is new.

It previously was considered a part of OCD. Kupfer says the change is based on extensive research that has been going for the past 15 to 20 years.

"It's something that we need to deal with because it really has highly harmful effects and a credible occurrence," he said.

-- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will be included in a new chapter in DSM-5 on Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders, according to the APA. There will now be four distinct diagnostic clusters instead of three. The new diagnostic criteria will be more sensitive for children and adolescents to have PTSD. Kupfer says this shows a recognition that this, as with other disorders can develop much earlier than previously thought.

The last revision of the DSM was released in 1994, but experts started laying the groundwork for its revision five years later.

In 2007, the DSM task force and working groups were charged with reviewing the most recent research in the various areas of psychiatry.

The review and approval of the latest criteria is the final step in the process of updating this manual.

Between now and the end of the year, the DSM-5 will undergo a final editing process and then head to the printer. It will be officially released at the APA's regularly scheduled annual meeting in San Francisco in May.