Daniel A. Bochner, Ph.D.

Major psychiatric diagnoses are those psychological problems that everyone knows. The word "Major" may seem to indicate something horrible, but as it is used to describe diagnoses, it simply denotes how common the diagnosis is, not how big a problem it causes. These problems can be devastating, but can also be mild. They can be long-lasting or short (chronic or acute, in psychology terms). Major diagnoses describe how a person can break down, even after long periods of normal functioning. They also include those illnesses for which it's thought there is a specific medical intervention that can be used to correct the problem. We have all had some experience, whether in ourselves or in someone we know, with depression or anxiety, some kind of trauma or extreme moodiness, difficulties with concentration or even a feeling of losing touch with reality. The articles in this section aim to clarify the psychological mechanisms behind the most common and well-known psychiatric categories.