A physical examination to check for ill health or the effects of medications or other drugs may be conducted. Psychological testing is sometimes used via paper-and-pen or computerized questionnaires, which may include algorithms based on ticking off standardized diagnostic criteria, and in rare specialist cases neuroimaging tests may be requested, but such methods are more commonly found in research studies than routine clinical practice.Time and budgetary constraints often limit practicing psychiatrists from conducting more thorough diagnostic evaluations. It has been found that most clinicians evaluate patients using an unstructured, open-ended approach, with limited training in evidence-based assessment methods, and that inaccurate diagnosis may be common in routine practice. In addition, comorbidity is very common in psychiatric diagnosis, where the same person meets the criteria for more than one disorder. On the other hand, a person may have several different difficulties only some of which meet the criteria for being diagnosed. There may be specific problems with accurate diagnosis in developing countries. More structured approaches are being increasingly used to measure levels of mental illness. HoNOS is the most widely used measure in English mental health services, being used by at least 61 trusts. In HoNOS a score of 0–4 is given for each of 12 factors, based on functional living capacity.
Socialization has been found to work 90% of the time in disturbed chimpanzees, although restoration of functional sexuality and caregiving is often not achieved.Laboratory researchers sometimes try to develop animal models of human mental disorders, including by inducing or treating symptoms in animals through genetic, neurological, chemical or behavioral manipulation, but this has been criticized on empirical grounds and opposed on animal rights grounds. See also
List of mental disorders
Mental illness portrayed in media
Mental disorders in film
Mental illness in fiction
Mental illness in American prisons
Parity of esteem
Psychological evaluation

References
Further reading
External links

Overcoming Mental Health Stigma in the Latino Community – Consult QD clevelandclinic.org

National Institute of Mental Health
International Committee of Women Leaders on Mental Health