A BRIEF-HISTORY OF PSYCHIATRIC CLASSIFICATION - FROM THE ANCIENTS TO DSM-IV

The definition of mental disorder has changed man times throughout his tory, resulting in a rich, but confusing, diversity of psychiatric cla ssifications. The authors trace this history of psychiatric classifica tion and extract certain recurring themes: etiology versus description , lumping versus splitting, categories versus dimensions, and extreme versus boundary cases. The implications of these themes in the develop ment of DSM-IV are discussed briefly.