Classification symptoms for mental disorders

What do diagnostic manuals contain?

Classifications of disorders into different types and symptoms of disorders

What is the DSM?

The DSM was created by the American Psychiatric Association and describes symptoms and features of over 300 mental and behavioural disorders in 22 categories. It is updated at regular intervals as our understanding of mental health is constantly evolving.

What are the 3 sections of the DSM-5?

• Section 1: gives information about how to use the DSM-5 system

• Section 2: details different disorders into categories which are linked by similar causes in symptoms. For schizophrenia, diagnosis is no longer made in subtypes (paranoid, canonic, etc) and instead a dimensional assessment is used which focuses on level, number and duration of symptoms

• Section 3: has suggestions for new disorders which are being further investigated for full inclusion in the manual, Also includes information about the impact of culture in his symptoms are presented and communicated

What new diagnoses were added when the DSM-5 was published?

Prolonged grief disorder, internet gaming disorder

How do you use the DSM?

Diagnosis is made using all available information to the clinician. They may simply observe behaviours that indicate a particular disorder during their sessions with the client. Most of the process will be based in unstructured clinical interviews, guided by what the participant wants to share. Structures interview schedules may also bd used to assess specific symptom types (eg- Beck Depression Inventory, consists of 21 questions each with 4 possible responses). Simple diagnoses can take just one session, but more complicated ones that weeks or months so the consistency of symptoms over time can be considered.

What is the ICD?

Produced by the World Health Organisation (WHO), it is a manual containing both mental and physical disorders. Chapter 5 is entitled ‘mental and behavioural disorders’ and uses a coding system to categorise different disorders. There are 11 sections and within these subtypes of disorders are also listed and coded. The coding is used in indexing medical records which makes it easier to find people with specific disorders who may be asked to participate in research and allows international community to communicate about disorders more effectively.

How do you use the ICD?

A clinical interview wiki be conducted (likely to be unstructured or semi-structured). The clinician will select key words from the interviews (eg- hallucinations) to look at which disorders match the symptoms described. The clinician will be able to identify the type of mental disorder and then ask further questions of the patient to determine further subtypes.