Psychiatrists like Kumar are working to use biological markers like genetics to help psychiatrists better understand mental disorders.

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For decades, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals have used the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders," or DSM , to diagnose patients with conditions such as major depression, anorexia and post-traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ). To reach diagnoses, mental health practitioners identify symptoms via interview, case history, questionnaire, or observation to paint a clinical picture.

But for the next version of this "psychiatry bible", the DSM-6, scientists are planning to add other factors into the diagnostic criteria.

Kenna Hughes-Castleberry is the Content Manager at Live Science. Formerly, she was the Content Manager at Space.com and before that the Science Communicator at JILA, a physics research institute.…