Psychiatrists Agree on a Diagnosis Only About Half the Time

You Should Know: Telling two psychiatrists about the same symptoms and getting two different diagnoses is more common than you’d think, a new study suggests. Researchers asked 1,038 doctors in 19 countries to diagnose written patient cases using the same criteria, and only about 55% of the time did any two agree. The authors called that worryingly low, on par with the 1970s, before standardized criteria existed.

Going Deeper: Results varied quite a lot by condition. For bipolar disorder and OCD, doctors matched the expected diagnosis over 90% of the time, and 88% of psychiatrists agreed on a depression case. But schizophrenia accuracy dipped as low as 37%. Symptoms that appear in more than one condition can really muddy the waters (for example, obsessive thoughts can show up in both OCD and schizophrenia).

Takeaway: The study looked at only nine written cases, which doesn’t necessarily reflect what happens during a fully psychiatric evaluation, but some patterns were very consistent. To help address the discrepancy, researchers recommend developing more precise descriptions of each disorder and potentially reducing diagnostic categories to choose from.

Bottom Line: Psychiatric diagnoses aren’t perfect yet (although some conditions are easier to diagnose than others), but that’s no reason to put off getting help if you’re struggling.