Diagnostic consideration of Morita shinkeishitsu and DSM-III-R

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to empirically and objectively clarify the diagnostic standing of Morita shinkeishitsu, the subject of Morita therapy, by comparing and contrasting it with the operational diagnosis of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edition, revised; DSM-III-R). Morita therapists' clinical diagnoses of 88 outpatients who requested Morita therapy were compared with the results of the independently conducted operational diagnoses (structured clinical interview for DSM (SCID) for DSM-III-R, the Japanese version). In view of the result of axis I diagnoses, Morita shinkeishitsu corresponds to anxiety disorders, although it is a complex that also embodies mood disorders, which were found in one-quarter of the cases, as well as personality disorders, which were found in half of the cases, especially cluster C (avoidant, obsessive-compulsive, and dependent personality disorders). Morita shinkeishitsu is almost equivalent to anxiety disorders (DSM-III-R, axis I), and is a complex, a part of which includes mood disorders and cluster C personality disorders.