Symptom-oriented clinical psychiatry.

Hu, Jian · Br J Psychiatry · 2026

editorial · Level V

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Abstract

This Guest Editorial argues that symptoms, rather than syndromic diagnoses alone, function as the practical units of psychiatric care. To render implicit symptom-oriented reasoning explicit, symptom-oriented clinical psychiatry offers a structured framework for analysing symptom roles, guiding treatment priorities and sequence and reducing reactive polypharmacy while remaining fully compatible with established diagnostic systems.