Relational Diagnosis: A Retrospective Synopsis.

This article highlights and summarizes efforts that have been made primarily during the past 20 years to bring the significance of relational diagnosis to the attention of the entire mental health community, and either (1) to have dysfunctional relational interactive patterns classified and codified and accepted for inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or (2) if this is not feasible, to have a nosology of relational diagnoses, which have been clearly defined with accompanying risks specified for mental illnesses that might develop, and criteria sets delineated and adequately field tested to warrant and lead to publication of a separate but equal Diagnostic Manual of Relational Disorders and Dysfunctional Interactional Patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]