Question

Why do you think psychiatrists and psychologists generally support the use of some classification system for psychological disorders?

Answer 1

• There is a classification for all sort of diseases, not just related to mental health, called as ICD (International classification of diseases) and DSM(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.All kinds of mental health professionals use the codes given in that to specify a diagnosis in their respective field.
• Psychiatric disorders don't have supportive investigations like other disorders. If a patient comes goes to a physician with chest pain radiating to left arm, they order an ECG and based on its specific findings, diagnose as myocardial infarction or not. But it is not possible with psychiatric disorders. Mental health professionals have to make a diagnosis based on a cluster of symptoms, their duration and associated features.Without this criteria or classification system thre would be a lot of confusion.
• So to bring a common consensus, classification system is used and adhered to by all mental health professionals.Classification allows clinicians and researchers to describe disorders, predict outcomes, consider treatments, and encourage research into their etiology.