Modified: 2023-10-31
Although classification is useful in differentiating among the various types of psychopathology, it is not as useful in the treatment of psychopathology. One reason for the above difference is that real psychopathologies are more complex than are their descriptions. There are no "textbook cases ." In addition, the consistency of classification from clinician to clinician varies to a high degree. To cope with that inconsistency standard methods have been created for classification. However, even with those methods, the problem still remains.
The DSM-5 is the current standard for classification today. The terms neuroses and psychoses are no longer included in the current DSM, but they were under DSM-II. It is probably still useful, from a teaching point of view, to explain those terms, especially because they are still in popular use, if not in clinical use. Neuroses referred to conditions, ranging from non-debilitating to severe, that had their origin in anxiety or in memory problems. Usually, the personality remained intact. Psychoses were more severe, hospitalization was usually required, and personality disintegration was common. Today, the two terms are not used primarily because the conditions they lumped together were not really related. So, instead conditions are classified in a less global manner. But those two words, neurotic and psychotic, remain in popular use.
Classification is also an aid to diagnosis and prognosis. Diagnosis is intimately related to classification. Prognosis is predicting the outcome of one's diagnosis. Clinical syndromes often seem to affect graduate students and new diagnosticians; it is when one begins to suffer the symptoms one is studying. So, beware of a that as you read your text! Finally, etiology consists of all of the conditions that surround a particular condition, and etiology plays an important role in diagnosis and prognosis. A patient's prognosis, for example, may be more favorable if family members are available during the recovery period. Conversely, living alone may lead to a less favorable prognosis for the same patient. In the above example, social effects are part of the etiology of a clinical condition.