Need for alternative ways of phenotyping of mood, anxiety, and somatoform disorders in biological research.
Variation in psychiatric symptomatology is continuous and does not coalesce into fairly well-defined categorical DSM-IV clusters. As a consequence, DSM-IV fails to meaningfully integrate information generated by neuroendocrine research. Continuous psychological dimensions selected for their predictiveness with respect to endophenotypes, as biological intermediate factors, are proposed to be the best ways in reaching an understanding of the causations in mood, anxiety, and somatoform disorders.
Department of Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center, 2300 RC, Leiden, The Netherlands. G.Veen@lumc.nl
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D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000503:physiopathology; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D010641:Phenotype; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012106:Research; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*