Which assessment tool provides criteria for diagnosing mental health disorders?

The DSM-5, or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, is the primary assessment tool used by mental health professionals to diagnose mental health disorders. It provides a comprehensive classification system, detailing various disorders along with their specific diagnostic criteria, symptomatology, and associated features. This manual serves as a standardized reference for mental health diagnosis, ensuring consistency and accuracy across different practitioners and settings.

In contrast, while the ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases) is also a classification system that includes mental health disorders, it is broader and focuses primarily on global health statistics and clinical diagnoses for all types of diseases, not exclusively mental health. The Beck Depression Inventory and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale are specialized tools that assess the severity of depression and anxiety, respectively, but they do not provide diagnostic criteria for disorders as the DSM-5 does.