Categories of Disorders
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Neurodevelopmental disorders/ˌnjuːrəʊdˈveləpmentl dɪˈsɔːdəz/ | Conditions beginning during development that affect abilities such as learning, communication, attention or social functioning. |
| Schizophrenic spectrum disorders/ˌskɪtsəˈfrenɪk ˈspektrəm dɪˈsɔːdəz/ | A group including schizophrenia and related conditions involving psychotic symptoms and disturbances of thought, perception or functioning. |
| delusions/dɪˈluːʒnz/ | Strongly held false beliefs that persist despite contrary evidence and are not explained by the person's cultural context. |
| hallucinations/həˌluːsɪˈneɪʃnz/ | Perception-like experiences occurring without a corresponding external stimulus. |
| Depressive disorders/dɪˈpresɪv dɪˈsɔːdəz/ | Conditions characterised by persistent depressed or irritable mood or loss of interest, with associated symptoms affecting functioning. |
| Bipolar disorders/baɪˈpəʊlə dɪˈsɔːdəz/ | Conditions involving episodes of mania or hypomania, with depressive episodes occurring in many presentations. |
| mania/ˈmeɪnɪə/ | An episode of unusually elevated, expansive or irritable mood and increased energy or activity that causes marked impairment or other serious disruption. |
| Anxiety disorders/æŋˈzaɪəti dɪˈsɔːdəz/ | Conditions involving excessive fear, anxiety or related avoidance that causes significant distress or impaired functioning. |
| Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders/ɒbˈsesɪv kəmˈpʌlsɪv ænd rɪˈleɪtɪd dɪˈsɔːdəz/ | A category including OCD and related conditions involving repetitive preoccupations or behaviours that cause distress or impairment. |
| obsessions/ɒbˈseʃnz/ | Recurring intrusive and unwanted thoughts, images or urges that typically cause anxiety or distress. |
| compulsions/kəmˈpʌlʃnz/ | Repetitive behaviours or mental acts performed in response to an obsession or according to rigid rules. |
| Dissociative disorders/dɪˈsəʊsɪətɪv dɪˈsɔːdəz/ | Conditions involving disruptions in the usual integration of memory, identity, awareness or perception. |
| Trauma and stressor-related disorders/ˈtrɔːmə ænd ˈstresə rɪˈleɪtɪd dɪˈsɔːdəz/ | Conditions whose development is linked to exposure to a traumatic or stressful event. |
| Personality disorders/ˌpɜːsəˈnælɪti dɪˈsɔːdəz/ | Enduring, inflexible patterns of thinking, feeling and relating that differ markedly from cultural expectations and cause distress or impairment. |
| Feeding and eating disorders/ˈfiːdɪŋ ænd ˈiːtɪŋ dɪˈsɔːdəz/ | Conditions involving persistent disturbances of eating or food-related behaviour that impair physical health or psychosocial functioning. |
Categories defined by what they have in common
- The disorders in a category share a defining feature, not a cause.
- That is why one category can have many proposed causes at once.
- Learn the defining feature first; the causes attach to it afterwards.
Neurodevelopmental and schizophrenic spectrum
- Neurodevelopmental disorders 神经发育障碍 have onset during the developmental period; causes may be environmental, physiological or genetic.
- Schizophrenic spectrum disorders 精神分裂症谱系障碍 are characterised by issues in one or more of five areas: delusions 妄想, hallucinations 幻觉, disorganised speech, disorganised behaviour and negative symptoms.
- Proposed causes for the second include genetic and biological links such as prenatal virus exposure or neurotransmitter imbalance.

Vulnerability and stress interact; the diagram illustrates a model, not measured probabilities or a diagnosis
Select all the areas that characterise schizophrenic spectrum disorders.
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Mania belongs to bipolar disorders, not the schizophrenic spectrum.
Mood and anxiety
- Depressive disorders 抑郁障碍 involve sad, empty or irritable mood with physical and cognitive changes.
- Bipolar disorders 双相障碍 involve periods of mania 躁狂 and periods of depression.
- Anxiety disorders 焦虑障碍 involve excessive fear or anxiety with related disturbances to behaviour.
Which category's defining feature?
Match each defining feature to its category.
The defining feature of bipolar disorders is...
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Mania is what distinguishes bipolar from a depressive disorder.
Do not use a diagnostic term casually or apply it to yourself or others from a description. The CED states that diagnosis requires specialised training and evidence-based tools — these categories are for understanding research, not for labelling people.
Intrusive thoughts in obsessive-compulsive disorders are called ____.
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Obsessions are the thoughts; compulsions are the repetitive behaviours.
Match each category to what it requires.
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Each category is defined by a feature, and the causes attach to the feature afterwards.
Obsessive-compulsive, dissociative and trauma-related
- Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders 强迫及相关障碍 involve obsessions 强迫思维 (intrusive thoughts) and compulsions 强迫行为 (repetitive behaviours).
- Dissociative disorders 分离障碍 involve dissociation from consciousness, memory, identity or perception.
- Trauma and stressor-related disorders 创伤及应激相关障碍 require exposure to a traumatic or stressful event.
Personality disorders fall into three clusters.
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They involve enduring patterns of inner experience and behaviour, grouped into three clusters.
Eating and personality disorders
- Feeding and eating disorders 进食障碍 involve altered consumption or absorption of food that impairs health.
- Personality disorders 人格障碍 fall into three clusters and involve enduring patterns of inner experience and behaviour.
- For most categories the CED gives the same list of possible causes: biological, genetic, social, cultural, behavioural or cognitive.
Two people both avoid crowded places. One does so after a traumatic event and re-experiences it — trauma and stressor-related. The other has intrusive thoughts and performs a repetitive routine before leaving — obsessive-compulsive. The same visible behaviour, two different defining features.
Each category is defined by a shared feature, not a shared cause. Schizophrenic spectrum covers five areas including delusions and hallucinations; bipolar requires periods of mania; obsessive-compulsive requires obsessions and compulsions; trauma-related requires an event. Causes are usually listed as biological, genetic, social, cultural, behavioural or cognitive.
Write from two weeks of low mood and no mania
- Low mood lasts two weeks and there is no period of mania. Another person hears a voice that is not present.
- Say what bipolar requires, and separate a hallucination from a delusion.
Low mood lasts two weeks and mania is absent. Another person hears a voice that is not there. What can this lesson say, and how is a hallucination different from a delusion?
A category here is defined by its stated feature. Low mood without mania misses the bipolar feature.
What is the voice that is not present?
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A perception without the stimulus is a hallucination. Mania was absent.