Due to a variety of factors, such as increased societal attention to mental disorders, cultural and societal interpretations, inconsistencies in diagnosis criteria, continuing research on mental disorders, and others, categorizing mental disorders is not always consistent. Depending on the source used, certain diagnoses or disorders may be categorized differently due to the criteria or metrics used in those categorical schemes. Listed below are different categorization schemes for mental disorders (some official and some colloquial). 
- [DSM-5-TR] Section II: Diagnostic Criteria and Codes
- [ICD-11] Chapter 6:  Mental, Behavioral, or Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- General Categories of Mental Disorders


Categorizing Mental Disorders 

World Health Organization. (2022, June 8). Mental disorders. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-disorders

Reference for Mental Disorders

- Anxiety Disorders
- Depression
- Bipolar Disorder
- Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Eating Disorders
- Disruptive Behavior and Dissocial Disorders
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Categories of Mental Disorders

1. Victor, S. E., Devendorf, A. R., Lewis, S. P., Rottenberg, J., Muehlenkamp, J. J., Stage, D. L., & Miller, R. H. (2022). Only Human: Mental-Health Difficulties Among Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychology Faculty and Trainees. Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 17(6), 1576–1590. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916211071079

References for Mental Disorders

An interesting phenomenon is the fact that a majority of mental health workers  are facing or have faced mental health struggles of their own. In fact, 80% of mental health providers in a study reported chronic mental health struggles, while 48% of workers reported an official diagnosis. The researchers of this study noted that the amount of mental health professionals who suffer from mental disorders are equal to, if not greater than the amount of individuals in the general population who suffer from mental illnesses.

Mental Illness in Mental Healthcare Professionals

Clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior, particularly if there is distress or impairment to an individual's everyday function. 

University of Georgia

Disorders can be classified as being 
- Emotional & Behavioral Disorders (E/BD)
- Functional
- Genetic
- Mental 
- Physical
- Structural
- Comorbid
- Addictive

Forms of Disorders

The term emotional & behavioral disorder (E/BD) is a term used to classify disability particularly within an educational institution. This term is mostly used to define children with E/BDs as a means for providing special education and related services to help their social and academic growth. 

Emotional & Behavioral Disorders (E/BD)

The term functional disorder is a broad term that covers a group of medical conditions that result from changes to the functioning of body systems. 

Functional Disorders

The term genetic disorder refers to a health problem that is the result of abnormalities in an individual’s genome. These are typically caused by gene mutations or chromosomal anomalies; thus, they are present prenatally. 

Genetic Disorders

Mental Disorders

Comorbid disorders means that a person has multiple diagnoses.

Comorbid Disorder

Addiction is frequently conceptualized as a chronic disease. While the initial decision to use a substance is voluntary, prolonged use can lead to lasting changes in the neural pathways of the prefrontal cortex. This brain region is crucial for judgment and decision-making. The structural alterations caused by substance use can impair these functions, leading to a compulsive drive to use the substance and contributing to high rates of relapse.

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