The Classification of Anxiety Disorders

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Abstract
The classification of anxiety disorders is a controversial subject, and this controversy is reflected in the differences between the systems adopted in DSM-III-R and in the draft of ICD-10. The scheme in ICD-10 is the simpler: anxiety disorders are divided into phobic disorders and other anxiety disorders, and each is divided further into three subgroups. The three phobic disorders are: agoraphobia, social phobia, and specific phobia. The three subgroups of ‘other anxiety disorders’ are panic disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, and mixed anxiety and depressive disorder. The subdivisions of phobic disorder are those now generally adopted in most countries, and are uncontroversial. The subdivisions of generalised anxiety disorder, and mixed anxiety depressive disorder are also widely accepted, the latter group being particularly frequent among patients seen in general practice and not referred on to psychiatrists. Only the category of panic disorder is controversial. In addition to these categories which are specifically allocated to anxiety disorders, two others are relevant: ‘reactions to severe stress and adjustment disorders’, and anxious personality disorder.

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