Mental disorder

A clinically significant disturbance in cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior that reflects dysfunction in psychological, biological, or developmental processes. It can cause distress or impair functioning, and is classified using diagnostic systems.

Psychopathology: The study of mental disorders, their symptoms, causes, and development. It provides the broader framework for describing and investigating mental disorders.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: A classification manual published by the American Psychiatric Association for diagnosing mental disorders. The DSM provides diagnostic criteria widely used in the United States.
Diathesis–stress model: A model in which vulnerability and stress interact to influence the development of disorders. It explains how predispositions and life events can jointly shape disorder risk.
Mental health: A state of well-being that supports coping, functioning, and participation in life. Mental health is broader than the absence or presence of a psychiatric diagnosis.
Validity of psychiatric diagnosis: The extent to which psychiatric diagnoses identify coherent conditions with reliable causes or outcomes. Many diagnostic categories lack clear boundaries or established biological markers.
Psychiatric diagnosis: The process of identifying and classifying mental disorders from clinical information. It turns observed patterns into diagnoses that guide communication and care.
International Classification of Diseases: The World Health Organization’s system for classifying diseases and related health conditions. Its mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders chapter supports diagnosis worldwide.
Neurodevelopmental disorder: A disorder arising from atypical development of the nervous system. It illustrates how developmental processes can underlie enduring patterns of impairment.
Psychological distress: Unpleasant emotional or psychological experiences that may or may not indicate a disorder. Distress alone does not establish the dysfunction or impairment required for diagnosis.
Dimensional models of mental disorders: Approaches that describe mental disorder traits along continuous dimensions rather than discrete categories. Dimensional models challenge the assumption that disorders have sharp diagnostic borders.

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