[Aspects of the 10th decennial revision of the international statistical classification of diseases (ICD-10)].

The author gives a critical account of some general principles of the project of classification ICD-10, changes in the classification of items in the area of endogenous psychoses, neuroses psychogenic conditions and personality disorder respectively. Changes in the mentioned groups may at first cause some embarassment, in advocates of defined schools even indignation. The author evaluates positively the shift of schizoaffective psychoses to affective disorders; omission of neurotic depression is probably premature. Simple schizophrenia could be classified as it was so far. The problem of latent schizophrenia is more complicated. The classification will enrich clinical thinking by progressive elements of operational diagnosis and partly also by multiaxial diagnosis by introduction of the code which records the importance of psychosocial stress ("Z"). It may stimulate the declining interest in phenomenology and nosology. In general the ICD-10 project is considered a necessary and in some instances useful compromise with principles of DSM-III classification. Its introduction will cause transient difficulties. Only after some experience with the new classification and validating studies it will be possible to express a more responsible opinion on the project.