Diagnostics and differential diagnostics

Abstract

A well-founded and thoroughly chosen diagnosis is the basis of every patient-centred treatment. It is also indispensable for scientific exchange. Diagnosis-related studies inform healthcare and social policy decisions. For post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a large number of well-evaluated screening, self-report and interview tools are available, some of which have already been adapted to the new editions of the classification systems. DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association) expanded the category of criteria and additionally introduced a dissociative subtype of PTSD. ICD-11 (World Health Organization) opted for a more stringent version of PTSD and instead delimited the syndrome of complex PTSD. This chapter, therefore, deals on the one hand with established methods that were able to assert their validity and on the other hand with innovations that were adapted to modern classification systems.