ternal and external stresses that are genera lly maintained in a homeostatic balance without
a disruption in normal functioning. It requires  clinical training to recognize when the com-
bination of predisposing, precipitating, perpetuating, and protective factors has resulted
in a psychopathological condition in which physical signs and symptoms exceed normal
ranges. The ultimate goal of a clinical case formulation is to use the available contextual
and diagnostic information in developing a comprehensive treatment plan that is in-
formed by the individual’s cultural and social context. However, recommendations for the
selection and use of the most appropriate ev idence-based treatment options for each dis-
order are beyond the scope of this manual.
Although decades of scientific effort have go ne into developing the diagnostic criteria
sets for the disorders included in  Section II, it is well recognized  that this set of categorical
diagnoses does not fully describe the full rang e of mental disorders that individuals ex-
perience and present to clinicians on a daily  basis throughout the world. As noted previ-
ously in the introduction, the range of genetic/environmental interactions over the course
of human development affecting cognitive, em otional and behavioral function is virtually
limitless. As a result, it is impossible to capt ure the full range of psychopathology in the
categorical diagnostic categories  that we are now using. Hence,  it is also necessary to in-
clude “other specified/unspecified” disorder  options for presentations that do not fit
exactly into the diagnostic boundaries of disorders in each chapter. In an emergency de-
partment setting, it may be possible to id entify only the most prominent symptom ex-
pressions associated with a particular chap ter—for example, delusions, hallucinations,