ABSTRACT
Aberrant, dysfunctional, and maladaptive thinking, feeling, behaving, and relating are of substantial concern to many diff erent professions, the members of which will hold an equally diverse array of beliefs regarding etiology, pathology, and intervention. It is imperative that these persons be able to communicate meaningfully with one another. Th e primary purpose of an offi cial diagnostic nomenclature is to provide this common language of communication (Kendell, 1975; Sartorius et al., 1993).
