[ICD-10 primary health care. WHO support for family practice psychotherapy]

In the year 2001, The World Health Organization (WHO) published a special edition of the International Classification of Mental Disorders (ICD-10, Chapter F) for use by general practitioners (ICD-10 PHC-Primary Health Care). In this GP version of the ICD-10, diagnostic categorizations and algorithms serving treatment requirements are summarized in simplified form. Unlike the general ICD-10 guidelines, this version also contains management guidelines for each disease category. These include information for the patient and family, advice on counseling, description of treatment methods, and indications for specialist referral. The treatment guidelines are differentiated, concrete and suitable for use in the doctor's office, and concise (in each case not more than a single page). The WHO also offers an education program to enable the interested GP to deepen his knowledge of the treatment guidelines and their theoretical basis. A particular feature of this program are patient information leaflets that guide the physician on what the patient needs to be told. The physician can use these as a basis for his talks with the patient, or give them to the patient for home study.