Why Are Mental Illnesses Broken Down to Different Names Rather Then Category?

Question by Adamismyname: Why are mental illnesses broken down to different names rather then category?
I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and PTSD. Why does each disorder not just be in a general category of things like “depressive disorder” “anxiety disorder” “mood disorder” rather then so many names (borderline personality, obsessive-compulsive, reactive attachment, bipolar II, etc…)
Or is it helpful to have different names in each category like in cancer where we have to know where the cancer is?

Best answer:

Answer by KCM
I think it’s because it describes it better and isn’t as generalised? So sort of like cancer thing yeah so you know more specifically where the issue is. There’s too many types that are so similar yet have the slightest change that can really make all the difference. Hope i made sense:)

Answer by Floppy
To answer your question, it’s necessary to clarify that DSM uses the term ‘category’ differently than one might expect. What you refer to as “names” (e.g., GAD, OCD, PTSD) are considered diagnostic categories (even though each represents a single disorder). And diagnostic categories are classified together into groups based on things like symptoms, neurobiological substrates, familiality (e.g., heritability), course of illness, and treatment response.
For example, in DSM-5 there is a group called “Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders” and it includes the following diagnositic categories: OCD, Body Dismorphic Disorder, Trichotillomania, Hoarding Disorder, and Excoriation (skin picking) Disorder.

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