Diagnosis systems

Morten Birket-Smith, psychiatrist

The diagnosis systems contain lists of all the diseases that we know of. There are two official diagnosis systems, ICD-10 and DSM-IV, which both contain the psychiatric diseases. Most of the countries outside the USA, the official diagnosis list is ICD-10, while DSM-IV is used in the USA in particular.

Diagnoses are working tools that are continuously being improved and further developed, and the two diagnosis systems therefore have one number (10 and IV respectively) indicating which version it is.

ICD-10

WHO (The World Health Organisation) has for many years administered and published ICD (an abbreviation for International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems). ICD-10 contain all official psychiatric diagnoses. All doctors use them in medical certificates, when you are discharged from hospital and in other official connections.

Diagnoses which are related are bracketed together in the diagnosis system. There is among others a diagnosis group in ICD-10 called "affective mental disorders", where the different forms of depression are listed.

Affect is a designation that both covers your momentary mood and the average mood over a period of time. In affective mental disorders, the mood changes are so severe and prolonged that they inhibit your enjoyment of life.

The affective mental disorders are divided into a long series of diagnoses. It is necessary to divide the affective mental disorders, as depressions present themselves in different ways. Different types of depression require different types of treatment and preventive measures.