Experiences with the DSM-III in a psychiatric consultation/liaison service

375 patients referred to consultation/liaison service at a general hospital from the neurological and internal medical department were diagnosed according to the DSM-III criteria for axis I and II. The sample represents all the patients referred from the two departments in a two year period. The phenomenological approach of the DSM-III and its reliability, is an advantage over older classification systems in the psychiatric consultation/liaison work. The system was easily applicable in this setting, leaving only 4 percent with "Diagnoses deferred" on both axes. From the consultation/liaison psychiatrist's point of view, special problems seemed to exist concerning the categories "Somatoform disorders" and "Psychological factors affecting physical condition", and the concepts of the axis II.