Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsAboutImprovementsICD vs. DSMChangesAdded DiagnosesDeleted DiagnosesContentsMental Disorders

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Table of Contents

About

Improvements

ICD vs. DSM

Changes

Added Diagnoses

Deleted Diagnoses

Contents

Mental Disorders

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Development and Release of the ICD-11

The initial release as an advance preview gives member countries time to plan how they will use the new ICD-11, train health professionals in its use, and obtain necessary translations. It’s important also to note that anyone can submit an evidence-based proposal for ICD revisions and that these are processed in an open and transparent way.

This version is the result of work completed over the course of a decade involving 300 specialists divided into 30 workgroups across 55 countries who provided input. Healthcare workers joined collaborative meetings to incorporate practical applications in the ICD-11 revision in addition to theoretical concepts, particularly in the area ofmental health.

The ICD-11 catalogs known human diseases, medical conditions, andmental health disordersand is used for insurance coding purposes, for statistical tracking of illnesses, and as a global health categorization tool that can be used across countries and in different languages.

Improvements in the ICD-11

Improvements included in the ICD-11 are intended to address gaps in theICD-10and incorporate medical updates, discoveries, and changes in thinking. Key revisions were made to the new ICD in terms of the approach to categorization and coding structure, international usage, digital-readiness, and user-friendliness.

Coding Structure

In terms of general improvements, the ICD-11 has a more sophisticated structure than the ICD-10. With around 55,000 codes that can be used to classify diseases, disorders, injuries, and causes of death, the ICD-11 offers a fine level of detail in coding these illnesses.

A key feature of the revised system is that it provides a simple coding structure that makes it easier to record various conditions with specificity.

International Applicability

Digital-Ready and User-Friendly

Dimensional Approach

Another enhancement of the ICD-11 is that it’s based on a dimensional approach that makes it better at capturing change over time, is consistent with research evidence, and will improve recovery from illness.

This dimensional approach also helps to reduce artificial comorbidity, which refers to a person being diagnosed with more than one illness when in fact their symptoms are all part of the same illness. To aid this dimensional approach, the new system includes two new chapters and a new set of categories.

The ICD and theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM) share many similarities. Both are authoritative guidebooks for medical professionals to use for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and disorders. They share a great overlap of material onmental disorders, with the DSM solely focused on mental health concerns, while the ICD covers all parts of the body and mind.

Compared to the DSM, the ICD is broader both in its scope and its authorship.

Mental health professionals in the United States are more likely to rely on and be familiar with the DSM mental health classifications (rather than classifications of the ICD) because the DSM guidebook is specifically tailored to cover mental health disorders as they are experienced and treated in this country.

Another difference is that the ICD provides codes for each diagnosis forinsurancebilling purposes. The DSM doesn’t have its own codes, but rather, publishes the corresponding ICD codes for each mental health diagnosis. For instance, the DSM-5 uses both ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes. The DSM-5-TR (DSM-5 text revision) uses codes from the ICD-10-CM, which is the ICD-10 Clinical Modification.

Changes in the ICD-11

The ICD-11 includes several changes to the mental health disorders that are listed, including some that may be considered controversial and others that may be long overdue in the eyes of clinicians. The following sections detail the diagnoses that were either added or deleted in the new ICD-11.

ICD-11 Added Diagnoses

The following diagnoses are now included in the ICD-11.

Complex PTSD

The definition ofcomplex post-traumatic stress disorderin the ICD-11 involves the three symptoms of PTSD (re-experiencing, avoiding reminders, and a heightened sense of threat/arousal) along with broader problems inemotion regulation,shame,guilt, and interpersonal conflict, such that it affects the person’s entire life.

Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder

Gaming Disorder

Gaming disorderis newly defined in the ICD-11 as “a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behavior (‘digital gaming’ or ‘video-gaming’).”

Prolonged Grief Disorder

Prolonged grief disorderis defined in the ICD-11 as grief that extends beyond what most people would consider a reasonable or expected amount of time.Prolonged grief disorder is listed as a proposed disorder in the DSM-5 and is officially listed as a new diagnosis in the DSM-5-TR.

ICD-11 Deleted Diagnoses

The following disorders were removed from the ICD with the publication of the ICD-11.

Acute Stress Disorder

Acute stress disorderis no longer included as a mental disorder and instead is now classified as a reaction totrauma(factor influencing health). This is in contrast to the DSM-5.

Gender Incongruence

Gender incongruence (gender dysphoriain the DSM) is no longer listed as a mental disorder but rather a sexual health condition to avoidstigmaabout it being a psychological rather than medical condition.

Personality Disorders

The section onpersonality disordershas been completely overhauled. There is now one diagnosis of “personality disorder” as it was found that there was much overlap in clinical practice.

This diagnosis is labeled as mild, moderate, or severe, and measured in terms of six trait domain areas to retain some of the earlier specificity of the diagnosis. This is a fairly significant departure from the original ICD personality disorder diagnosis.

What’s Included in the ICD-11

The ICD-11 includes an implementation package with the following components that can be used to help ease the transition and better use the categorization system:

All of these tools are accessible to those who register on theICD-11 platform online.

Mental Health Disorders in the ICD-11

Within the ICD-11, each mental, behavioral, and neurodevelopmental disorder listed includes a description with guidance on meaning that you can access through the website. The following is a list of each of the disorders currently included in the ICD-11 available online:

A Word From Verywell

While it may be confusing that there are two systems for diagnosing mental health disorders, the important thing to remember is that the DSM is primarily used in the United States while the ICD is used internationally and for insurance coding purposes.

However, this new revision of the ICD could influence or alter standards for diagnosis and disease classification. Indeed, the move toward a dimensional approach is more in keeping with current research evidence and is in line with approaches to treatment and recovery that emphasize improvement rather than the presence or absence of a disorder.

If you’ve been diagnosed with an illness, be sure to ask your provider what diagnostic system was used for categorization and what specific disorder (and code) applies so that you have this information for future visits with health professionals and for your insurance provider.

Provisional Diagnosis vs. Differential Diagnosis

10 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Psychiatric Association.About DSM-5.American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed, text revision. American Psychiatric Publishing.World Health Organization.Gaming disorder.Killikelly C, Maercker A.Prolonged grief disorder for ICD-11: the primacy of clinical utility and international applicability.Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2017;8(Suppl 6):1476441.  doi:10.1080/20008198.2018.1476441Lenferink LIM, van den Munckhof MJA, de Keijser J, Boelen PA.DSM-5-TR prolonged grief disorder and DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder are related, yet distinct: confirmatory factor analyses in traumatically bereaved people.Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2021;12(1):1-14. doi:10.1080/20008198.2021.2000131World Health Organization.WHO releases new International Classification of Diseases (ICD 11).World Health Organization.ICD-11 for mortality and morbidity statistics.Claudino AM, Pike KM, Hay P, et al.The classification of feeding and eating disorders in the ICD-11: results of a field study comparing proposed ICD-11 guidelines with existing ICD-10 guidelines.BMC Med. 2019;17(1):93.  doi:10.1186/s12916-019-1327-4Reddy Y, Simpson H, Stein D.Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders in international classification of Diseases-11 and its relation to international classification of Diseases-10 and diagnostic and statistical manual of mental Disorders-5.Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry. 2018:(34)5.  doi:10.4103/ijsp.ijsp_38_18Briken P, Boetticher A, Krueger RB, Kismödi E, Reed GM.Current Legal Situation for Patients with Paraphilic disorders and Implications of the ICD-11 for Paraphilic Disorders for Germany.J Sex Med. 2019;16(10):1615-1622.  doi:10.1016/j.jsxm.2019.07.011Additional ReadingAmerican Psychiatric Association.ICD vs. DSM.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Update on ICD-11: The WHO launch and implications for U.S. implementation.Reed GM, First MB, Kogan CS, et al.Innovations and changes in the ICD-11 classification of mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders.World Psychiatry. 2019;18(1):3-19.World Health Organization.ICD-11 implementation or transition guide.World Health Organization.International classification of diseases (ICD) information sheet.

10 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Psychiatric Association.About DSM-5.American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed, text revision. American Psychiatric Publishing.World Health Organization.Gaming disorder.Killikelly C, Maercker A.Prolonged grief disorder for ICD-11: the primacy of clinical utility and international applicability.Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2017;8(Suppl 6):1476441.  doi:10.1080/20008198.2018.1476441Lenferink LIM, van den Munckhof MJA, de Keijser J, Boelen PA.DSM-5-TR prolonged grief disorder and DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder are related, yet distinct: confirmatory factor analyses in traumatically bereaved people.Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2021;12(1):1-14. doi:10.1080/20008198.2021.2000131World Health Organization.WHO releases new International Classification of Diseases (ICD 11).World Health Organization.ICD-11 for mortality and morbidity statistics.Claudino AM, Pike KM, Hay P, et al.The classification of feeding and eating disorders in the ICD-11: results of a field study comparing proposed ICD-11 guidelines with existing ICD-10 guidelines.BMC Med. 2019;17(1):93.  doi:10.1186/s12916-019-1327-4Reddy Y, Simpson H, Stein D.Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders in international classification of Diseases-11 and its relation to international classification of Diseases-10 and diagnostic and statistical manual of mental Disorders-5.Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry. 2018:(34)5.  doi:10.4103/ijsp.ijsp_38_18Briken P, Boetticher A, Krueger RB, Kismödi E, Reed GM.Current Legal Situation for Patients with Paraphilic disorders and Implications of the ICD-11 for Paraphilic Disorders for Germany.J Sex Med. 2019;16(10):1615-1622.  doi:10.1016/j.jsxm.2019.07.011Additional ReadingAmerican Psychiatric Association.ICD vs. DSM.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Update on ICD-11: The WHO launch and implications for U.S. implementation.Reed GM, First MB, Kogan CS, et al.Innovations and changes in the ICD-11 classification of mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders.World Psychiatry. 2019;18(1):3-19.World Health Organization.ICD-11 implementation or transition guide.World Health Organization.International classification of diseases (ICD) information sheet.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

American Psychiatric Association.About DSM-5.American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed, text revision. American Psychiatric Publishing.World Health Organization.Gaming disorder.Killikelly C, Maercker A.Prolonged grief disorder for ICD-11: the primacy of clinical utility and international applicability.Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2017;8(Suppl 6):1476441.  doi:10.1080/20008198.2018.1476441Lenferink LIM, van den Munckhof MJA, de Keijser J, Boelen PA.DSM-5-TR prolonged grief disorder and DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder are related, yet distinct: confirmatory factor analyses in traumatically bereaved people.Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2021;12(1):1-14. doi:10.1080/20008198.2021.2000131World Health Organization.WHO releases new International Classification of Diseases (ICD 11).World Health Organization.ICD-11 for mortality and morbidity statistics.Claudino AM, Pike KM, Hay P, et al.The classification of feeding and eating disorders in the ICD-11: results of a field study comparing proposed ICD-11 guidelines with existing ICD-10 guidelines.BMC Med. 2019;17(1):93.  doi:10.1186/s12916-019-1327-4Reddy Y, Simpson H, Stein D.Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders in international classification of Diseases-11 and its relation to international classification of Diseases-10 and diagnostic and statistical manual of mental Disorders-5.Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry. 2018:(34)5.  doi:10.4103/ijsp.ijsp_38_18Briken P, Boetticher A, Krueger RB, Kismödi E, Reed GM.Current Legal Situation for Patients with Paraphilic disorders and Implications of the ICD-11 for Paraphilic Disorders for Germany.J Sex Med. 2019;16(10):1615-1622.  doi:10.1016/j.jsxm.2019.07.011

American Psychiatric Association.About DSM-5.

American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed, text revision. American Psychiatric Publishing.

World Health Organization.Gaming disorder.

Killikelly C, Maercker A.Prolonged grief disorder for ICD-11: the primacy of clinical utility and international applicability.Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2017;8(Suppl 6):1476441.  doi:10.1080/20008198.2018.1476441

Lenferink LIM, van den Munckhof MJA, de Keijser J, Boelen PA.DSM-5-TR prolonged grief disorder and DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder are related, yet distinct: confirmatory factor analyses in traumatically bereaved people.Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2021;12(1):1-14. doi:10.1080/20008198.2021.2000131

World Health Organization.WHO releases new International Classification of Diseases (ICD 11).

World Health Organization.ICD-11 for mortality and morbidity statistics.

Claudino AM, Pike KM, Hay P, et al.The classification of feeding and eating disorders in the ICD-11: results of a field study comparing proposed ICD-11 guidelines with existing ICD-10 guidelines.BMC Med. 2019;17(1):93.  doi:10.1186/s12916-019-1327-4

Reddy Y, Simpson H, Stein D.Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders in international classification of Diseases-11 and its relation to international classification of Diseases-10 and diagnostic and statistical manual of mental Disorders-5.Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry. 2018:(34)5.  doi:10.4103/ijsp.ijsp_38_18

Briken P, Boetticher A, Krueger RB, Kismödi E, Reed GM.Current Legal Situation for Patients with Paraphilic disorders and Implications of the ICD-11 for Paraphilic Disorders for Germany.J Sex Med. 2019;16(10):1615-1622.  doi:10.1016/j.jsxm.2019.07.011

American Psychiatric Association.ICD vs. DSM.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Update on ICD-11: The WHO launch and implications for U.S. implementation.Reed GM, First MB, Kogan CS, et al.Innovations and changes in the ICD-11 classification of mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders.World Psychiatry. 2019;18(1):3-19.World Health Organization.ICD-11 implementation or transition guide.World Health Organization.International classification of diseases (ICD) information sheet.

American Psychiatric Association.ICD vs. DSM.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Update on ICD-11: The WHO launch and implications for U.S. implementation.

Reed GM, First MB, Kogan CS, et al.Innovations and changes in the ICD-11 classification of mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders.World Psychiatry. 2019;18(1):3-19.

World Health Organization.ICD-11 implementation or transition guide.

World Health Organization.International classification of diseases (ICD) information sheet.

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