American Psychiatric Association diagnostic classification system

There has been some suggestion that the DSM may be influenced by the development of other classification systems, most notably by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10 World Health Organization, 1992) which is a widely used international diagnostic system. There are certainly examples in the DSM-III-R and DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1987, 1994) that clearly indicate that the DSM was changed simply to make it more compatible with an ICD diagnosis. For example, the DSM-IV added a new diagnosis termed Acute Stress Disorder for compatibility with the ICD-10 (American Psychiatric Association, 1994, p. 783). 

Several widely used diagnostic classifications currently include sections on tic disorders. These include both the classification system published by the American Psychiatric Association (1994) and the criteria by the World Health Organization (1996). A third classification system, the Classification of Tic Disorders (CTD), has been offered by the Tourette Syndrome Classification Study Group (1993). Although clear differences exist comparing these classification schemes, they are broadly congruent. 

Although neuroticism is not a disease per se, it predisposes individuals to anxiety disorders (12, 13). Neuroticism is a vulnerability factor for all forms of anxiety (14-16). A system established by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Psychiatric Disorders in the United States, currently in its 4th edition (DSM-IV) text revision (TR) (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), sets the boundary at which a particular level of behavior becomes an anxiety disorder—a level often based on the number and the duration of symptoms. DSM is a categorical system based on the qualitative separation of disease states from the state of well-being. The DSM-IVTR category of anxiety disorders currently includes generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), simple phobia, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), panic disorder, social phobia, and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) as discrete anxiety disorders. The International Classification of Diseases-10 (IC-10) is a similar system, but it is less frequently used in research (17). 

Two classification systems are often used for diagnostic and billing purposes by social workers who counsel clients who have mental health disorders. One was developed by the World Health Organization, which sponsored the International Classification of Diseases and the other by the American Psychiatric Association (1994), which publishes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). 

Mental health diagnostic categories are summarized from the information presented in the DSM-IV classification system (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). 

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