A Companion to the Classification of Mental Disorders provides essential reading as a background and supplement to both the recently produced DSM-5 and the forthcoming ICD-11. It focuses on the processes of classification and diagnosis, and the uses for these classifications. The book emphasises the dangers of regarding any current psychiatric classification as true or complete, in view of the present partial state of knowledge about the causes and mechanisms of most mental and behavioural disorders. This book is unique in containing a number of chapters that give a brief history of the cooperative efforts and projects necessary for the production of internationally agreed psychiatric classifications. The discussion begins in 1965 with the US/UK Diagnostic study, the preparations for ICD-8 with its first international glossary, and the International Pilot Study of Schizophrenia, designed and coordinated by the World Health Organization. While recognizing the importance of the innovations of the DSM series of classifications of the American Psychiatric Association, the book also takes a truly international perspective. The expert authors are well placed to do this, having been personally involved in many of the collaborative studies and developments discussed. A Companion to the Classification of Mental Disorders is an illustration of how much international collaborative work has been necessary over several decades to produce the currently agreed classifications. There is still a long way to go, but a start has been made.

The classification of mental disorders improved greatly in the last decade of the 20th century and now provides a reliable operation tool. The first set of papers in this publication present the views on international classification and diagnosis of the WHO and the APA as well as the results of a large international survey on the usage and perceived value of ICD-10 and related diagnostic systems. The second group of papers topically review international experience with current diagnostic systems. The third set delves into some of the key conceptual bases for the development of future diagnostic systems. The fourth group review ongoing work on adaptations of and complements to the ICD. The last section offers incisive commentaries on integrative approaches and future steps. Summarizing the current knowledge of the field of the international system for classification and diagnosis this publication is essential reading for psychiatrists, psychologists as well as public health services.

How is psychological abnormality recognised? How many different mental disorders are there, and what are their characteristics? Although there are established guidelines for clinicians working in this area, these have been subject to many criticisms. Exploring how views on this subject have changed over time, and how they vary in different societies, poses important questions about our current practices. This book provides a brief overview of the current definitions and various explanations for psychological abnormality and then focuses on how society diagnoses and classifies behaviour that is deemed to be 'unusual'. Three key areas of the topic are covered: the procedures involved in the diagnosis and classification of mental disorders (such as schizophrenia); research into the history and origins of multiple personality disorder; and a discussion of the implications of cultural variability (including culture-bound syndromes) for the classification and diagnosis of psychological abnormality. Classification and Diagnosis of Abnormal Psychology is an introductory text suitable for students and teachers of the AQA Psychology A2 specification and is also useful for other groups who work in the field of mental disorder, such as nurses, social workers and therapists.

Scholars question the extent to which current psychiatric classification systems are inadequate for diagnosis, treatment, and research of mental disorders and offer suggestions for improvement. In this volume, leading philosophers of psychiatry examine psychiatric classification systems, including the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), asking whether current systems are sufficient for effective diagnosis, treatment, and research. Doing so, they take up the question of whether mental disorders are natural kinds, grounded in something in the outside world. Psychiatric categories based on natural kinds should group phenomena in such a way that they are subject to the same type of causal explanations and respond similarly to the same type of causal interventions. When these categories do not evince such groupings, there is reason to revise existing classifications. The contributors all question current psychiatric classifications systems and the assumptions on which they are based. They differ, however, as to why and to what extent the categories are inadequate and how to address the problem. Topics discussed include taxometric methods for identifying natural kinds, the error and bias inherent in DSM categories, and the complexities involved in classifying such specific mental disorders as “oppositional defiance disorder” and pathological gambling. Contributors George Graham, Nick Haslam, Allan Horwitz, Harold Kincaid, Dominic Murphy, Jeffrey Poland, Nancy Nyquist Potter, Don Ross, Dan Stein, Jacqueline Sullivan, Serife Tekin, Peter Zachar