Chapter 2 Diagnoses

In this chapter, we talk about the most common mental health conditions to help the reader to recognize and classify their own symptoms, but also to perceive symptoms in their counterpart and to address them if necessary. The user should learn to interpret these symptoms and to take appropriate steps and exercises to improve them.

The chapter is subdivided into mood disorders, anxiety disorders and schizophrenia and psychosis. 

Diagnose Cataloges

There is a catalog of criteria for diagnoses (called ICD-10) that all medical doctors, healthcare professionals and psychiatrists use as a guideline when assigning diagnoses. Psychological diagnoses are only made if the symptoms meet certain criteria in terms of frequency and duration. A diagnosis of depression is therefore made under certain criteria, just like, for example, pneumonia or morbus chron.

The ICD-10 (international classification of Disease) is updated and issued by the World health organization (WHO) and is an internationally uniform classification scheme for diagnoses in ambulatory and stationary health care.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–5) is specialized on mental disorders published by the American Psychiatric Assosiation. This catalog does not include any other diagnoses than mental disorders. In clinical psychology as well as medical psychiatry, it is considered the standard work for the diagnosis of mental disorders, along with the ICD-10.

The most common diagnoses are described in more detail below.

Video: Brain and Mental Health