Psychiatric diagnoses: Purposes, limitations and an alternative approach

Abstract

Introduction A major purpose of diagnosis is to indicate the type of treatment that is required for the presenting patient. Other purposes of diagnosis identified by Kendell (1975) include predicting course and prognosis, understanding etiology and factors leading to the condition, and in the calculation of prevalence and incidence rates in epidemiological research. The latter indicates the “health” of the nation and aids in determining the allocation of mental health infrastructure and resources to specific geographic regions with the greatest unmet need. Issues of reliability and, to a lesser extent, the validity of diagnoses dominate the study of psychopathology. These issues led to the p..