CLASSIFICATION OF SEXUAL DISORDERS

Sexual disorders have been classified in different ways by various aut hors, and in this paper we compare the latest versions of the two main classificatory systems used around the world, international Classific ation of Diseases (ICD-10) and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM- IV). While there are differences between them, there are in general mo re similarities, and they share many of the same problems. Paramount a mong these are the lack of any clear demarcation between normal and ab normal; and the fact that even a careful application of a well-thought -out system may be of limited clinical value, as it tends to obscure t herapeutically relevant individual variations.