A List of Psychological Disorders
A List of Psychological Disorders
A List of Psychological Disorders
THEORIES
While not a comprehensive list of every mental disorder, the following list
includes some of the major categories of disorders described in
the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The latest
edition of the diagnostic manual is the DSM-5 and was released in May of
2013. [1] The DSM is one of the most widely used systems for classifying
mental disorders and provides standardized diagnostic criteria.
1 Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Intellectual Disability
Sometimes called Intellectual Developmental Disorder, this diagnosis
was formerly referred to as mental retardation. [1] This type of
developmental disorder originates prior to the age of 18 and is characterized
by limitations in both intellectual functioning and adaptive behaviors.
Communication Disorders
These disorders are those that impact the ability to use, understand, or
detect language and speech. The DSM-5 identiZes four di_erent subtypes of
communication disorders: language disorder, speech sound disorder,
childhood onset `uency disorder (stuttering), and social (pragmatic)
communication disorder. [2]
Mania
This mood is characterized by a distinct period of elevated, expansive, or
irritable mood accompanied by increased activity and energy. Periods of
mania are sometimes marked by feelings of distraction, irritability, and
excessive conZdence. People experiencing mania are also more prone to
engage in activities that might have negative long-term consequences such
as gambling and shopping sprees.
Depressive Episodes
These episodes are characterized by feelings of a depressed or sad mood
along with a lack of interest in activities. It may also involve feelings of
guilt, fatigue, and irritability. During a depressive period, people with
bipolar disorder may lose interest in activities that they previously enjoyed,
experience sleeping didculties, and even have thoughts of suicide.
Both manic and depressive episodes can be frightening for both the person
experiencing these symptoms as well as family, friends and other loved
ones who observe these behaviors and mood shifts. Fortunately, appropriate
and e_ective treatments, which often include both medications and
psychotherapy, can help people with bipolar disorder successfully manage
their symptoms.
Compared to the previous edition of the DSM, in the DSM-5 the criteria
for manic and hypomanic episodes include an increased focus on
changes in energy levels and activity as well as changes in mood.
3 Anxiety Disorders
Agoraphobia
This condition is characterized by a pronounced fear a wide range of public
places. People who experience this disorder often fear that they will su_er a
panic attack in a setting where escape might be didcult.
Because of this fear, those with agoraphobia often avoid situations that
might trigger an anxiety attack. In some cases, this avoidance behavior can
reach a point where the individual is unable to even leave their own home.
Specific Phobias
These phobias involve an extreme fear of a speciZc object or situation in the
environment. Some examples of common speciZc phobias include the fear
of spiders, fear of heights, or fear of snakes.
The four main types of speciZc phobias involve natural events (thunder,
lightening, tornadoes), medical (medical procedures, dental procedures,
medical equipment), animals (dogs, snakes, bugs), and situational (small
spaces, leaving home, driving). When confronted by a phobic object or
situation, people may experience nausea, trembling, rapid heart rate, and
even a fear of dying.
Panic Disorder
This psychiatric disorder is characterized by panic attacks that often seem
to strike out of the blue and for no reason at all. Because of this, people with
panic disorder often experience anxiety and preoccupation over the
possibility of having another panic attack.
People may begin to avoid situations and settings where attacks have
occurred in the past or where they might occur in the future. This can create
signiZcant impairments in many areas of everyday life and make it didcult
to carry out normal routines.
4 Stress-Related Disorders
Adjustment Disorders
Adjustment disorders can occur as a response to a sudden change such as
divorce, job loss, end of a close relationship, a move, or some other loss or
disappointment. This type of psychological disorder can a_ect both children
and adults and is characterized by symptoms such as anxiety, irritability,
depressed mood, worry, anger, hopelessness, and feelings of isolation.
5 Dissociative Disorders
Dissociative Amnesia
This disorder involves a temporary loss of memory as a result of
dissociation. In many cases, this memory loss, which may last for just a
brief period or for many years, is a result of some type of psychological
trauma.
Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder
Depersonalization/derealization disorder is characterized by experiencing a
sense of being outside of one's own body (depersonalization) and being
disconnected from reality (derealization). People who have this disorder
often feel a sense of unreality and an involuntary disconnect from their own
memories, feelings, and consciousness.
Conversion Disorder
Conversion disorder involves experiencing motor or sensory symptoms that
lack a compatible neurological or medical explanation. In many cases, the
disorder follows a real physical injury or stressful even which then results
in a psychological and emotional response.
Factitious Disorder
Factitious disorder used to have its own category, is now included under the
somatic symptom and related disorders category of the DSM-5. A factitious
disorder is when an individual intentionally creates, fakes, or exaggerates
symptoms of illness. Munchausen syndrome, in which people feign an
illness to attract attention, is one severe form of factitious disorder.
7 Eating Disorders
Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia nervosa is characterized by restricted food consumption that leads
to weight loss and a very low body weight. Those who experience this
disorder also have a preoccupation and fear of gaining weight as well as a
distorted view of their own appearance and behavior.
Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia nervosa involves binging and then taking extreme steps to
compensate for these binges. These compensatory behaviors might include
self-induced vomiting, the abuse of laxatives or diuretics, and excessive
exercise.
Rumination Disorder
Rumination disorder is marked by regurgitating previously chewed or
swallowed food in order to either spit it out or re-swallow it. Most of those
a_ected by this disorder are children or adults who also have a
developmental delay or intellectual disability.
Additional problems that can result from this behavior include dental
decay, esophageal ulcers, and malnutrition.
Pica
Pica involves craving and consuming non-food substances such as dirt,
paint, or soap. The disorder most commonly a_ects children and those with
developmental disabilities.
Binge-Eating Disorder
Binge-eating disorder was Zrst introduced in the DSM-5 and involves
episodes of binge eating where the individual consumes an unusually large
amount of over the course of a couple hours. Not only do people overeat,
however, they also feel as if they have no control over their eating. Binge
eating episodes are sometimes triggered by certain emotions such as feeling
happy or anxious, by boredom or following stressful events.
8 Sleep Disorders
Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is a condition in which people experience an irrepressible need
to sleep. People with narcolepsy may experience a sudden loss of muscle
tone.
Insomnia Disorder
Insomnia disorder involves being unable to get enough sleep to feel rested.
While all people experience sleeping didculties and interruptions at some
point, insomnia is considered a disorder when it is accompanied by
signiZcant distress or impairment over time.
Hypersomnolence
Hypersomnolence disorder is characterized by excessive sleepiness
despite an adequate main sleep period. People with this condition may fall
asleep during the day at inappropriate times such as at work and school.
Parasomnias
Parasomnias involve disorders that feature abnormal behaviors that take
place during sleep. Such disorders include sleepwalking, sleep terrors, sleep
talking, and sleep eating.
This change, the APA explains, "underscores that the individual has a
sleep disorder warranting independent clinical attention, in addition to
any medical and mental disorders that are also present, and
acknowledges the bidirectional and interactive e_ects between sleep
disorders and coexisting medical and mental disorders."
9 Disruptive Disorders
Kleptomania
Kleptomania involves an inability to control the impulse to steal. People
who have kleptomania will often steal things that they do not really need or
that have no real monetary value. Those with this condition experience
escalating tension prior to committing a theft and feel relief and
gratiZcation afterwards.
Pyromania
Pyromania involves a fascination with Zre that results in acts of Zre-
starting that endanger the self and others. People who struggle with
pyromania purposefully and deliberately have set Zres more than one time.
They also experience tension and emotional arousal before setting a Zre.
Conduct Disorder
Conduct disorder is a condition diagnosed in children and adolescents under
the age of 18 who regularly violate social norms and the rights of others.
Children with this disorder display aggression toward people and animals,
destroy property, steal and deceive, and violate other rules and laws. These
behaviors result in signiZcant problems in a child's academic, work, or
social functioning.
10 Depressive Disorders
The depressive disorders are all characterized by feelings of sadness and low
mood that are persistent and severe enough to a_ect how a person
functions. Common symptoms shared by these disorders include didculty
feeling interested and motivated, lack of interest in previously enjoyed
activities, sleep disturbances, and poor concentration.
The diagnostic criteria vary for each speciZc condition. For major depressive
disorder, diagnosis requires an individual to experience Zve or more of the
following symptoms over the same two-week period.
For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database.
11 Substance-Related Disorders
Substance-related disorders are those that involve the use and abuse of
di_erent substances such as cocaine, methamphetamine, opiates, and
alcohol. [1] These disorders may include substance-induced conditions that
can result in many associated diagnoses including intoxication, withdrawal,
the emergence of psychosis, anxiety, and delirium. Examples of substance-
related disorders:
Gambling Disorder
The DSM-5 also includes gambling disorder under this
classiZcation. The American Psychiatric Association explains that this
change "re`ects the increasing and consistent evidence that some
behaviors, such as gambling, activate the brain reward system with
e_ects similar to those of drugs of abuse and that gambling disorder
symptoms resemble substance use disorders to a certain extent."
12 Neurocognitive Disorders
Delirium
Delirium is also known as acute confusional state. This disorder develops
over a short period of time—usually a few hours or a few days—and is
characterized by disturbances in attention and awareness.
Neurocognitive Disorders
Major and mild neurocognitive disorders have the primary feature of
acquired cognitive decline in one or more areas including memory,
attention, language, learning, and perception. These cognitive disorders can
be due to medical conditions including Alzheimer's disease, HIV infection,
Parkinson's disease, substance/medication use, vascular disease, and
others.
13 Schizophrenia
Delusions
Delusions: beliefs that con`ict with reality
Hallucinations
Hallucinations: seeing or hearing things that aren't really there
Disorganized speech
speech: words do not follow the rules of language and
may be impossible to understand
Negative symptoms
symptoms: the inability to initiate plans, speak, express
emotions, or feel pleasure
The National Institute of Mental Health suggests that multiple factors may
play a role in causing schizophrenia including genetics, brain chemistry,
environmental factors, and substance use.
14 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders
Body-dysmorphic disorder
Hoarding disorder
Each condition in this classiZcation has its own set of diagnostic criteria.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
The diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5 specify that in order to be diagnosed
with obsessive-compulsive disorder, a person must experience obsessions,
compulsions, or both.
Obsessions
Obsessions: deZned as recurrent, persistent thoughts, impulses, and
urges that lead to distress or anxiety
Compulsions
Compulsions: repetitive and excessive behaviors that the individual
feels that they must perform. These actions are performed to reduce
anxiety or to prevent some dreaded outcome from occurring.
15 Personality Disorders
Related: The 9 Best Online Therapy Programs We've tried, tested and
written unbiased reviews of the best online therapy programs including
Talkspace, Betterhelp, and Regain.
Article Sources
Related Articles
Daily Tips for a Healthy Mind to Your Inbox Mental Health A-Z Our Review Board About Us