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The current classification system of psychiatric illnesses is known as the The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR), which was published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in 2022. Psychiatrists and other mental health specialists use the DSM-5-TR to understand the overall and specific nature of mental illnesses. The DSM-5-TR is the authoritative handbook for research and statistical (epidemiological/public health) analyses; in other words, it serves as a template to estimate the incidence (new cases) and prevalence (existing cases) of mental disorders in the general population. Most important, the DSM-5-TR provides common terminology and criteria to standardize the assessment and diagnosis of mental illnesses in a variety of clinical settings.

In 1971, a prison was constructed in the basement of Stanford University’s psychology building. The makeshift prison was to provide a realistic setting for examining the effects of simulated confinement on prisoners and guards. The Stanford prison experiment, designed and led by Philip Zimbardo, a renowned psychologist and professor emeritus at Stanford University, is a case study that demonstrates how the power of a situation can transform those who are generally regarded as good people into authoritarians and sadists. It highlighted the ability of human nature’s dark side to emerge under certain circumstances.

People with primary psychiatric disorders have high rates of substance abuse and addictive disorders and vice versa. These clinical conditions are defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM 5 (2013) of the American Psychiatric Association, which is the widely used nomenclature for mental disorders. In the fields of clinical psychology and psychiatry, the terms comorbidity or dual diagnosis, generally apply to the presence of one or more serious mental disorders (SMDs) and one or more substance use disorders (SUDs). However, comorbidity can also refer to the co-occurrence of two or more serious mental disorders such as personality disorders .

DEFINITION: Investigatory technique in which a detailed composite description of an unknown perpetrator is constructed on the basis of crime scene evidence.

Criminology is the study of crime causation and control. Criminologists attempt to elucidate the characteristics and motivation of criminals—from the most mundane and innocuous (scofflaws and petty thieves) to the most obscure and heinous (mass murderers and serial killers)—and how they differ from the rest of society. Why do people commit crimes? Are people born criminals, or do their experiences dictate whether they will break the law? Can crime be controlled or eliminated? Why are some communities safer than others? What causes changes in crime rates? Criminologists search for answers to these and related questions.

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health disorders. The fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-TR (2022)—the most widely used reference manual for research, clinical assessment, and insurance purposes in the field of psychiatry—lists several anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, selective mutism, and specific phobias. Anxiety is also a pronounced symptom of other mental illnesses, such as depression, schizophrenia, avoidant personality disorder, dependent personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

DEFINITION: Artistic rendering of the facial features of unknown persons, often crime suspects, based on eyewitness information for use in narrowing law-enforcement searches.

DEFINITION: Branch of medical practice at the interface of psychiatry and law that involves the application of medical expertise and research findings in legal contexts.

DEFINITIONS: Crime scene reconstruction is an investigatory technique in which evidence is gathered, organized, and analyzed to re-create the precise sequence of events that occurred during the course of a crime. Crime scene staging is a stratagem sometimes used by criminal offenders in which a crime scene is rearranged or fabricated to disguise the true nature of the offense and suggest other causes or perpetrators of the crime.

DEFINITION: In the United States, the passage of drug laws that define substances as illegal or under the regulatory control of the government necessitated a mechanism for ensuring that these laws are obeyed. Law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and local levels provide that mechanism. These agencies have been entrusted with the responsibility of enforcing drug laws by interrupting the production, importation, distribution, and sales of drugs in a collective effort known as supply reduction.

Panic attacks are the defining symptoms of panic disorder, which is classified as an anxiety disorder. Panic attacks are associated with depression and substance use disorders and are more common in women than in men. Panic attacks are treated most effectively with medication and cognitive behavioral therapy.

Behavioral and mental disorders affect many people in the United States and throughout the world. A leading cause of disability, these disorders strike individuals of all ages and at every income level. Typically arising in adolescence and early adulthood, behavioral and mental disorders often prevent those who experience them from fulfilling their employment, educational, and personal aspirations. In general, these disorders affect how people think, feel, and behave and are highly variable in onset, severity, course, and prognosis. The first step in treating psychiatric and psychological disorders is proper assessment and diagnosis. Diagnoses focus psychiatrists, psychologists, and allied behavioral health professionals in the selection of treatments, medications and other interventions for effectively alleviating the symptoms. Psychiatric and psychological disorders are detailed in the American Psychiatric Association's (APA's) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), in its 5th edition as of 2016. Known as DSM-5, the fifth edition of the manual was released in 2013 after more than ten years of review, debate, and field-testing. During its evolution and initial implementation, DSM-5 was seriously criticized from a variety of quarters, including prominent psychiatrists and psychologists who participated in the creation of previous editions of the DSM. These criticisms pointed to DSM-5's developmental flaws and dubious usefulness as the diagnostic guidebook in psychiatry, psychology, and allied behavioral health clinical specialties.