Psychiatric Diagnosis: A Clinical Guide to Navigating Diagnostic Pluralism

The controversies surrounding the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and International Classification of Diseases have generated significant debate across the psy-sciences. This debate has been further fueled by the launch of the Research Domain Criteria as a framework to facilitate advances in neuroscientific research, a renewed emphasis on dimensional models of psychopathology, currently exemplified by the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology, and development of the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual by the psychodynamic community. In this article, we provide a clinical overview of recent debates surrounding categorical and dimensional approaches to psychiatric diagnosis, offer a critical assessment of proposed alternatives, and discuss how clinicians can navigate a plurality of diagnostic frameworks. Our discussion emphasizes that diagnostic frameworks need to be contextualized within the process of a comprehensive clinical evaluation, and their advantages and disadvantages should be understood in relationship to the theoretical orientations and practical needs of clinicians.