Bipolar disorders are a group of psychiatric disorders with profound negative impact on affected patients. Even if their symptomatology has long been recognized, diagnostic criteria have changed over time and diagnosis often remains difficult. The Fifth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), issued in May 2013, comprises several changes regarding the diagnosis of bipolar disorders compared to the previous edition. Diagnostic categories and criteria for bipolar disorders show some concordance with the internationally also widely used Tenth Edition of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10). However, there are also major differences that are worth highlighting. The aim of the following text is to depict and discuss those.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has been recognized as mainly characterized by compulsivity rather than anxiety and, therefore, was removed from the anxiety disorders chapter and given its own in both the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and the Beta Draft Version of the 11th revision of the World Health Organization (WHO) International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). This revised clustering is based on increasing evidence of common affected neurocircuits between disorders, differently from previous classification systems based on interrater agreement. In this article, we focus on the classification of obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs), examining the differences in approach adopted by these 2 nosological systems, with particular attention to the proposed changes in the forthcoming ICD-11. At this stage, notable differences in the ICD classification are emerging from the previous revision, apparently converging toward a reformulation of OCRDs that is closer to the DSM-5.

Congratulations to the scientific poster winners of the 2015 NEI Psychopharmacology Congress!

1stPLACE: Tardive Dyskinesia in the Era of Second Generation Antipsychotics: A Case Report and Literature Review (page 22)

2ndPLACE: Comparing Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) and ECT for Treatment Resistant Depression in Elderly Population (page 37)

3rdPLACE: The Complex Multimodal Management of First-Psychotic Episode in Patients with Morphometric Alteration in Hippocampal Formation (page 30)

Much has changed since the two dominant mental health nosological systems, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), were first published in 1900 and 1952, respectively. Despite numerous modifications to stay up to date with scientific and cultural changes (eg, exclusion of homosexuality as a disorder) and to improve the cultural sensitivity of psychiatric diagnoses, the ICD and DSM have only recently renewed attempts at harmonization. Previous nosological iterations demonstrate the oscillation in the importance placed on the biological focus, highlighting the tension between a gender- and culture-free nosology (solely biological) and a contextually relevant understanding of mental illness. In light of the release of the DSM 5, future nosological systems, such as the ICD 11, scheduled for release in 2017, and the Research Development Criteria (RDoC), can learn from history and apply critiques. This article aims to critically consider gender and culture in previous editions of the ICD and DSM to inform forthcoming classifications.

One of the most exciting psychiatric conditions is the bizarre psychomotor syndrome called catatonia, which may present with a large number of different motor signs and even vegetative instability. Catatonia is potentially life threatening. The use of benzodiazepines and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been efficient in the majority of patients. The rich clinical literature of the past has attempted to capture the nature of catatonia. But the lack of diagnostic clarity and operationalization has hampered research on catatonia for a long time. Within the last decades, it became clear that catatonia had to be separated from schizophrenia, which was finally accomplished in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). In DSM-5, catatonia syndrome may be diagnosed as a specifier to major mood disorders, psychotic disorders, general medical conditions, and as catatonia not otherwise specified. This allows diagnosing the syndrome in a large variety of psychiatric disorders. Currently, the pathobiology remains widely unknown. Suspected neurotransmitter systems include gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate. Neuroimaging reports pointed to reduced resting state activity and reduced task activation in motor areas of the frontal and parietal cortex. The new classification of catatonia will foster more clinical research and neuroscientific approaches by testing catatonia in various populations and applying stringent criteria. The scarce number of prospective trials will hopefully increase, as more trials will be encouraged within a more precise concept of catatonia.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) was published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in 2013, and the Work Group on the Classification of Psychotic disorders (WGPD), installed by the World Health Organization (WHO), is expected to publish the new chapter about schizophrenia and other primary psychotic disorders in 2017. We reviewed the available literature to summarize the major changes, innovations, and developments of both manuals. If available and possible, we outline the theoretical background behind these changes. Due to the fact that the development of ICD-11 has not yet been completed, the details about ICD-11 are still proposals under ongoing revision. In this ongoing process, they may be revised and therefore have to be seen as proposals. DSM-5 has eliminated schizophrenia subtypes and replaced them with a dimensional approach based on symptom assessments. ICD-11 will most likely go in a similar direction, as both manuals are planned to be more harmonized, although some differences will remain in details and the conceptual orientation. Next to these modifications, ICD-11 will provide a transsectional diagnostic criterion for schizoaffective disorders and a reorganization of acute and transient psychotic and delusional disorders. In this manuscript, we will compare the 2 classification systems.