For clinicians
Diagnosis quick guides
Sixteen free handouts for assessment, formulation and differential diagnosis: decision trees, comparison tables and fill-in tools that keep context and bias in view.
Before you start
These 16 handouts are for clinicians, supervisors and students who assess and diagnose. They are free to download, print and share with attribution.
Each one summarises published criteria in plain language. None replaces the DSM-5-TR, clinical training or supervision.
New to structured differential diagnosis? Start with “Six steps of differential diagnosis”, then pick the quick reference that matches what you are seeing.
Tools for assessment and formulation
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Tool
Six steps of differential diagnosis
A one-page flowchart of the six steps, with tables of the substances, medications and medical conditions that can look like a mental disorder.
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Tool
From assessment to formulation in ten steps
A two-page flowchart that takes you from the first meeting to a written case formulation, with what to write down at each step.
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Tool
Mental status examination template
A fill-in template for recording a mental status examination, with prompts and descriptive vocabulary for each domain.
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Tool
Diagnostic statement builder
A worksheet for writing a complete DSM-5-TR diagnostic statement in the right order, with a worked example and three common errors.
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Tool
Cultural Formulation Interview: guide and worksheet
A map of the four domains of the Cultural Formulation Interview, with a worksheet for carrying what you hear into a case formulation.
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Tool
An ethics check for any diagnosis
Five questions to ask before a diagnosis goes into a record, and how to respond to the pressures that push clinicians toward the wrong one.
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Tool
DSM-5-TR chapter map and severity guide
The diagnostic chapters in manual order with the core idea of each, a general guide to severity, and the parts of a diagnosis.
Quick references by disorder family
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Quick reference
Depressive and bipolar disorders
Two decision trees and a set of comparison tables for low mood and elevated mood.
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Quick reference
Anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders
Two decision trees and a set of comparison tables for fear, worry, obsessions and compulsions.
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Quick reference
Trauma-related and dissociative disorders
Two decision trees and a set of comparison tables for distress that follows an event, and for memory gaps or feeling unreal.
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Quick reference
Psychotic disorders
Two decision trees and a set of comparison tables for delusions, hallucinations and disorganisation.
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Quick reference
Neurodevelopmental and conduct disorders
Decision trees and comparison tables for attention, learning, social communication and behaviour concerns that begin in childhood.
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Quick reference
Substance-related and neurocognitive disorders
Decision trees and comparison tables for substance use, and for changes in memory and thinking.
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Quick reference
Eating, sleep-wake and somatic symptom disorders
Decision trees and comparison tables for disturbed eating, disturbed sleep and distress about the body.
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Quick reference
Personality disorders
A general-criteria tree to use first, a tree for choosing between the ten disorders, comparison tables, and a chart that reads each pattern as an adaptation.
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Quick reference
Sexual concerns and gender-related distress
Decision trees and comparison tables that separate disorder from difference, and from distress caused by stigma.
How to read a decision tree
A decision tree starts from what you see and gives you candidates. A comparison table starts from a candidate and tells you what separates it from its neighbours. Use them together, and write down what you ruled out as well as what you ruled in.
A diagnosis also depends on context. Before you settle on one, ask what the person and their community make of what is happening, look at the conditions around them, and check whether you would reach the same conclusion for someone of a different race, gender or class.
What these cannot do
These handouts are learning aids. They are not a diagnostic instrument, and they are not advice about any individual.
Where to go next
Differential Diagnosis Lab
Practise differential diagnosis with cases.
Worksheet downloads
Relationship, identity, and reflection worksheets.
Clinical supervision
Ask about supervision for assessment and formulation.