Categorical and dimensional diagnostic approach to acute psychosis in view of operational diagnostic criteria
Abstract
"Acute psychosis" is the tentative diagnosis made for the patients presenting acute onset of delusion, hallucination, confusion and emotional instability. "Acute psychosis" was focused in view of operational diagnostic criteria, ie, DSM-IV-TR and ICD-10. The diagnostic categories in the DSM-IV-TR corresponding to "acute psychosis" were brief psychotic disorder, schizophreniform disorder, schizo-affective disorder and mood disorder with psychotic features. Although brief psychotic disorder is representative of "acute psychosis" in the DSM-TR, it lacks in clinical usefulness, because its diagnostic criteria, based on no historical background, lack clinical validity in terms of symptom definition and duration (1 month>). On the other hand, in the ICD-10, a diagnostic category of acute transient psychotic disorder was based on the traditional "acute psychosis" concept that has been bred in the European Psychiatry. Among the acute transient psychotic disorders, acute polymorphic psychotic disorder is the diagnostic category made according to traditional concept of "bouffées délirantes" and cycloid psychosis. It is a clinically useful diagnostic category, because it could predict favorable episode outcome, if a person with fairly good premorbid social adaptation presents acute onset of polymorphic psychotic symptoms. One of the most prominent points of the revision of DSM-IV-TR to DSM-5 is the adoption of dimensional approach evaluation (diagnosis) in a disorder-crossing fashion. In addition to insomnia, depressive mood and anxiety, symptomatic domain such as acute onset, bipolarity, polymorphism of psychotic symptoms, and furthermore such domain as premorbid social adaptation, life event and episode outcome should be evaluated in the course of treatment, contributing to the clinical practice of the patients with acute psychosis.