CULTURE AND PSYCHIATRIC-DIAGNOSIS - IMPACT ON DSM-IV AND ICD-10

Psychiatric diagnosis is a clinical activity subjected to more clinica l determinants than many others. Based on a unique human encounter, it resorts to a variety of informational sources and interpretive mechan isms that reflect strong cultural biases. Each diagnostic system has m irrored the period of history in which it became established. This art icle examines the effect of culture on the two best-known diagnostic a nd classificatory systems: the DSM-IV and the ICD-10 Section V. It is important to minimize the ethnocentrism of disease categories in psych iatry and to highlight sources of possible cultural biases in the diag nostic interview and the diagnostic process in general, including asse ssment of comorbidity levels of stress, multiaxial impairment, everyda y functioning, and management recommendations. Research on these issue s and on diagnostic and measurement instruments must be pursued withou t sacrificing mainstream conventions.