Deconstructing Psychosis conference February 2006: the validity of schizophrenia and alternative approaches to the classification of psychosis.

The DSM V planning process is currently underway and it has once again ignited the debate about the validity of the schizophrenia diagnosis. In this paper, we review the psychometric literature examining the evidence for discontinuity between schizophrenia and normality and the distinction between schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. We conclude by proposing potential alternative approaches to refining the classification of psychosis.