In the US, they classify mental distress according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which is now in its fifth edition. In the UK and Europe, it’s more common to use the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), now on its 11th revision.
Maps of the mind such as the DSM and ICD are culturally specific models of how to think about thinking. They are instruments, useful to the extent that they help us meet the many challenges of being alive (Francis, 2026).
