Clinical psychopathology, psychiatric diagnosis and therapy in psychiatry

Clinical psychopathology has a diagnostic and therapeutic purpose. On the level of phenomenology one has to deal with four paradoxes. 1. The paradox of gradual transition from normality towards pathology versus the occurrence of symptoms of a new quality, 2. the paradox of nosological nonspecificity of various symptoms versus typical constellations of special symptoms for certain diseases, 3. the paradox of pure and typical symptoms and diseases versus symptoms and diseases which are mixed and non typical. 4. The paradox of the prevalence of psychopathological phenomena versus prevalence of somatic phenomena in one and the same disease. On the level of etiology one must face the fact that there are not only typical endogenous, exogenous (organic) and psychogenic syndromes. Neurotic symptoms may have an endogenous cause. Therefore neuroses may be treated effectively with antidepressants.