Facts on Mental Health

Like any growing branch of medicine, Psychiatry has seen rapid changes in classification to keep up with a conglomeration of growing research data dealing with epidermiology,symptomatology, prognostic factors, treatment methods and new theories for causation of psychiatric disorders .Although first attempts to classify mental illness can be traced back to Ayurveda, Plato and Asclepiades, classification in Psychiatry has come far ever since.
 

At present there are two major classification in Psychiatry, namely :

1) International Classification of Diseases - 10th Revision, 1992
 

2) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - IV Edition, Text Revision, 2000
 

MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS

i) Organic, Including Symptomatic, Mental Disorders : This group includes mental disorders and behavioral disorders due to demonstrable cerebral disease or disorder either because of primary brain pathology or brain dysfunction due to systemic diseases.

ii) Mental Disorders and Behavioral Disorders due to Psychoactive Substance Use : This group includes mental and behavioral disorders due to the use of one or more psycho-active substances. The disorders in this section include acute intoxication, harmful use, dependence syndrome, withdrawl state, amnestic syndrome and psychotic disorders due to psycho-active substance use.
 

iii) Schizophrenia, Schizotypal and Delusional Disorders : This group includes mental and behavioral disorders characterised by prominent disturbances of thought, perception,affect and/or behaviour. The disorder in this section include schizophrenia, schizotypal disorder, persistent delusional disorders, acute and transient psychotic disorders, induced delusional disorder and schizo-affective disorders.

iv) Mood (Affective) Disorders : This group includes mental disorders and behavioral disorders characterized by prominent disturbance of mood. The disorders in this section include manic episode, depressive episode, bipolar affective disorder, recurrent depressive disorder and persistent mood disorder.

v) Neurotic, Stress Related and somatoform Disorders : This group includes mental and behavioral disorders that were earlier labeled as neurotic disorders with an emphasis on psychological causation. The disorder in this section include anxiety disorders, phobic anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, dissociative disorders, somatoform disorders, reaction to stress, adjustment disorders and other neurotic disorders.

vi) Behavioral Syndromes Associated with Physiological Disturbances and Physical Factors : The disorders in this section include eating disorders, non-organic sleep disorders, sexual dysfunctions (not caused by organic disorder or disease) and abuse of non-dependence-producing substances.

vii) Adult Personality and Behavior Disorders : This group includes mental disorders and behavioral disorders that are the persistent expression of an individual's characterstic lifestyle and mode of relating to self and others. The disorders in this section include specific personality disorders, enduring personality changes, habit disorders and impulse disorders, gender-identity disorders, disorders of sexual preferrence and psychological disorders and behavioral disorders associated with sexual development and orientation.

viii) Mental Retardation : This group includes disorders with arrested or incomplete developemnt of the intellectual abilities and adaptive behavior which may or may not be associated with other physical or mental disorder. The disorders in this section include mild, moderate, severe and profound mental retardation .

ix) Psychological Development Disorders : This group includes mental and behavioral disorders with an onset during infancy or childhood and characterised by an impairment or delay in development of functions that are strongly related to biological maturation of the Central Nervous System. The disorders in this section include specific developmental disorders of speech and language, specific developmental disorders of scholastic skills, motor function, mixed specific developmental disorders and pervasive developmental disorders.

x) Behavioral and Emotional Disorders with Onset Usually Occuring in Childhood and Adolescence : This group includes miscellaneous mental disorders and behavioral disorders that have an onset in childhood and adolescence. The disorders in this section include hyperkinetic disorders, conduct disorders, mixed disorders of conduct and emotions and tic disorders.