Doctors often provide their diagnosis using the five axes diagnostic system. Axis I is reserved for diagnosing most psychological disorders, one exception being Personality Disorders, which are diagnosed on Axis II. The reader of the report should look for Axes III, IV and V where the doctor normally provides information about the individual’s general medical conditions, psychosocial and environmental problems and levels of Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF). The GAF score is especially important in medical-legal cases since it provides information about the individual’s level of functioning that may be relevant to the court’s decisions about disability. As per the DSM, it is also important that the doctor specify an individual’s GAF score at both the time of the evaluation and the highest GAF score they obtained during the past year.
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