ICD should reflect what it’s like to live with mental illness, study concludes

Mental health patients want diagnostic descriptions in the World Health Organisation’s international classification of diseases (ICD) to better reflect their lived experience. This was the key finding of a study published in Lancet Psychiatry that systematically sought patients’ views on the major diagnostic guideline.1

The ICD includes 55 000 unique codes for injuries, diseases, and causes of death and is highly influential on policy and the provision of services.

The researchers, in collaboration with WHO, looked at the chapter on mental, behavioural, and neurodevelopmental disorders in the latest revision (ICD-11), which will come into effect in …