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Psychiatric diagnosis refers both to the process of attempting to determine the identity of a possible mental disorder and to the opinion reached by this process.

Psychiatric diagnosis begins with a psychiatric assessment. A psychiatric assessment includes a medical examination, a patient history, and a systematic observation (called a mental status examination) of the patient's appearance, speech, and behavior. The information obtained and the observations and judgements made in the assessment are then used to produce a diagnostic opinion.

As a matter of almost universal practice semi-official diagnostic manuals are used as standards in this final stage of psychiatric diagnosis. These manuals contain lists and descriptions of possible psychiatric diagnoses and of the specific criteria by which they are determined. They also contain schemata for describing the general mental well-being of the patient. The two most commonly used manuals are the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition™ (DSM-IV-TR) published by the American Psychiatric Association, and the Tenth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) Chapter V: Mental and Behavioural Disorders produced by the World Health Organization. The vast majority of psychiatric diagnoses are expressed in terms given by these publications.

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Assessment

Main article: Psychiatric assessment

Using the diagnostic manual

Who is qualified to make a diagnosis

The only qualification for making a psychiatric diagnosis is training. Typically diagnoses are made by psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers.