Psychiatric classification, stigma, and mental health.

Abstract

Work on DSM-5 and ICD-11, and the simultaneous development of alternative approaches to psychiatric classification such as the Research Domain Criteria of the National Institute of Mental Health, has led to renewed interest of colleagues, patients, decision-makers, and the lay media in psychiatric diagnosis. Psychiatrists find themselves reading rationales for these classification systems by those who have worked on them, as well as strong criticisms by those who have perceived key weaknesses. How should we respond?