Classification
‘Classification’ introduces concepts of mental illness before briefly reviewing the reasons for, and criticisms of, psychiatric classification. Key issues of reliability, validity, and stigma associated with classification are covered. After an overview of the history of classifications, the organizing principles of the two current major classification systems used in psychiatry (ICD-10 and DSM-5) are then outlined: the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases (‘ICD-10’), and the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (‘DSM-5’). Additional schemes, used in particular countries, are also briefly mentioned. Finally, the chapter summarizes how psychiatric classification may develop in the future, with particular reference to ICD-11, which is due in 2018 or 2019.