This list came out of a discussion on how to build a short list from ICD-10 codes of useful categories of distress of consciousness. Note that Red's comments apply to tools to help those who suffer "distress of consciousness." This list is *not* about mental *illness.*
Red Lawhern:
The criteria that I would apply in validating a categorization system would be these:
1. Each category should be characterized by recognizable signs, symptoms, and courses of development.
2. Each category should be associated with conditions or behaviors that bring human distress to the client -- and to important others around them.
3. Each category should be associated with modalities of intervention which work reliably to reduce distress and improve life function and adult independence
4. Each category should be distinct from other categories in its character and interventions.
5. Every category should be observed often enough in society at large to justify research investment in validating its treatments, and educational investment in training practitioners to manage it.
I would imagine that they might include several of the following:
Depression (Mood disorders -- low state)
Mania (Mood disorders -- high state)
Anxiety and Panic
Phobias (including agoraphobia)
Delusions (Dementia)
Obsession / Compulsion
Auditory or visual hallucinations
Paranoia (Irrational convictions of persecution)
Catatonia
Personality disorders (Borderline and sociopathic personality)
Generalized psychotic break
Problems of learning and perception (Dyslexia, Autism spectrum, Aspergers)
Problems of social adjustment
Family and relationship issues
Trauma-related problems in children
Trauma-related problems in adults
Non-physical problems attending physical illness
There are others I'm probably forgetting. I personally wouldn't include hysteria as a disorder, because of its dubious history of harms through psychosomatic medicine. There are also no reliable treatments for the so-called "functional neurological symptoms" which characterize it.