Reclassifying personality disorders

Abstract

The classifications of personality disorder in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 1 WHOInternational classification of diseases, 10th revision: mental and behavioural disorders. Chapter V, F60-69. http://apps.who.int/classifications/apps/icd/icd10onlineDate: 1992 Google Scholar and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) 2 American Psychiatric AssociationDiagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition. http://allpsych.com/disorders/dsm.htmlDate: 1994 Google Scholar are valuable but ripe for reform. The major deficiency is the failure to acknowledge the dimensional nature of personality disturbance. To divide the population into those who are normal and those who have personality disorder does not reflect the wide range of personality variation and associated levels of pathology. 3 Livesley WJ Schroeder ML Jackson DN Jang KL Categorical distinctions in the study of personality disorder: implications for classification. J Abnorm Psychol. 1994; 103: 6-17 Crossref PubMed Scopus (203) Google Scholar , 4 Kim Y-R Tyrer P Controversies surrounding classification of personality disorder. Psychiatry Investig. 2010; 7: 1-8 Crossref PubMed Scopus (9) Google Scholar The first flight of DSM-5The philosophical difficulties inherent in diagnosing mental illness are taken for granted by many psychiatrists. Yet it is important to remember that an entire branch of the modern medical profession relies on a diagnostic system in which imaging and laboratory methods can only exclude physical causes of presenting symptoms. The psychiatrist must rely on his or her judgment, and the wisdom of those predecessors and peers who constructed the psychiatric diagnostic manuals. Full-Text PDF ICD-11: a brave attempt at classifying a new worldThe 11th version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) launched on June 18 is the latest attempt at systematically describing and categorising all human mortality and morbidity. Designed for the global digital age, it is an onscreen, multipurpose, multilingual database interconnecting with other operating systems—including electronic hospital records. It is a quantum leap forward from the ICD-10, which, although revised several times over the past two decades, was originally published in 1992, when internet use was minimal, smartphones were unheard of, and patient records were paper based. Full-Text PDF