When the WHO removed the diagnosis of homosexuality as a mental disorder in ICD-10, it included the diagnosis of "ego-dystonic sexual orientation" under "Psychological and behavioural disorders associated with sexual development and orientation". The WHO's ICD-10 diagnoses ego-dystonic sexual orientation thus:

The gender identity or sexual preference (heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or prepubertal) is not in doubt, but the individual wishes it were different because of associated psychological and behavioural disorders, and may seek treatment in order to change it. ()

The WHO notes that for codes under F66: "Sexual orientation by itself is not to be regarded as a disorder."

Patients are sometimes still diagnosed as having this problem. This is often a result of unfavorable and intolerant attitudes of the society or a conflict between sexual urges and religious belief systems.

A full medical, psychosexual and psychiatric history should be documented. The physician should explore the patient’s concerns about appearance and body image (ruling out body dysmorphic disorder). Additionally, the physician should inquire about overall beliefs, personal values, and assumptions that the patient is making about his or her genitals. Given that Koro is often an “attack” with a great deal of associated anxiety, the physician should ascertain the patient’s emotional state along with the timeline from onset to the presentation at the examination.

A physical examination should involve an assessment of overall health along with a detailed genital examination. In men, genital examination should be performed immediately after penile exposure, to avoid changes due to external temperature. The primary intent of the male exam is to exclude genuine penile anomalies such as hypospadias, epispadias and Peyronie's disease. The presence of a significant suprapubic fat pad should be noted as well. Careful measurements of flaccid length, stretched length and flaccid girth will also be useful. If male patients insist that their penis is shrinking and disappearing, measurements after intracavernosal alprostadil may be used in the office to determine the true erect length and to diagnose any penile abnormalities in the erect state. A physical examination should note any injuries inflicted by the patient in an effort to "prevent" retraction as further confirmation of Koro.

Biphobia is aversion toward bisexuality and toward bisexual people as a social group or as individuals. It can take the form of denial that bisexuality is a genuine sexual orientation, or of negative stereotypes about people who are bisexual (such as the beliefs that they are promiscuous or dishonest). People of any sexual orientation can experience or perpetuate biphobia, and it is a source of social discrimination against bisexual people.

Several criteria are typically used to make a diagnosis of koro. The primary criteria is a patient's report of genital (typically penile or female nipple) retraction despite a lack of objective physical evidence demonstrating retraction. This is accompanied by severe anxiety related to the retraction, fear of death as a result of retraction, and use of mechanical means to prevent retraction. Cases that do not meet all the requirements are generally classified as koro-like symptoms or given a diagnosis of partial koro syndrome. It has been argued that the criteria are sufficient but not necessary to make a diagnosis of koro. Researchers have identified Koro as a possible "cultural relative" of Body Dysmorphic Disorder. DSM-IV explains the process of differential diagnosis between these two disorders.

The World Health Organization (WHO) lists ego-dystonic sexual orientation in the ICD-10, as a disorder of sexual development and orientation. The WHO diagnosis covers when gender identity or sexual orientation is clear, yet a patient has another behavioural or psychological disorder which makes that patient want to change it. The diagnostic manual notes that a sexual orientation is not a disorder in itself. The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that any particular sexual orientation (heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality) is not a mental disorder by and of itself.

Similarly, the American Psychological Association has officially opposed the category of ego-dystonic homosexuality since 1987. In 2007, a task force of the American Psychological Association undertook a thorough review of the existing research on the efficacy of reparative therapy for. Their report noted that there was very little methodologically sound research on sexual orientation change efforts (SOCEs) and that the "results of scientifically valid research indicate that it is unlikely that individuals will be able to reduce same-sex attractions or increase other-sex sexual attractions through SOCE." In addition, the task force found that "there are no methodologically sound studies of recent SOCE that would enable the task force to make a definitive statement about whether or not recent SOCE is safe or harmful and for whom." The diagnostic category of "ego-dystonic homosexuality" was removed from the American Psychiatric Association's DSM in 1987 (with the publication of the DSM-III-R). Sexual disorders are still present in the DSM under the category of "sexual disorder not otherwise specified". One of the disorders under this category is "persistent and marked distress about one’s sexual orientation”, which can be considered similar to what WHO describes as ego-dystonic sexual orientation.

The Medical Council of India uses the WHO classification of ego-dystonic sexual orientation. The "Chinese Classification and Diagnostic Criteria of Mental Disorders" includes ego-dystonic homosexuality.

Gynophobia or gynephobia is an abnormal fear of women, a type of specific social phobia. In the past, the Latin term horror feminae was used.

Gynophobia should not be confused with misogyny, the hatred, contempt for and inveterate prejudice against women, although some may use the terms interchangeably, in reference to the social, rather than pathological aspect of negative attitudes towards women.

An antonym is philogyny, the love, respect for and admiration of women.

Transmisogyny (sometimes trans-misogyny) is the intersection of transphobia and misogyny. Transphobia is defined as "the irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against transgender or transsexual people". Misogyny is defined as "a hatred of women". Therefore, transmisogyny includes negative attitudes, hate, and discrimination of transgender or transsexual individuals who fall on the feminine side of the gender spectrum, particularly transgender women. The term was coined by Julia Serano in her 2007 book "Whipping Girl" and used to describe the unique discrimination faced by trans women because of "the assumption that femaleness and femininity are inferior to, and exist primarily for the benefit of, maleness and masculinity", and the way that transphobia intensifies the misogyny faced by trans women (and vice versa). It is said many trans women experience an additional layer of misogyny in the form of fetishization; Serano talks about how society views trans women in certain ways that sexualize them, such as them transitioning for sexual reasons, or ways where they’re seen as sexually promiscuous.Transmisogyny is a central concept in transfeminism and is commonly referenced in intersectional feminist theory. That trans women's femaleness (rather than only their femininity) is a source of transmisogyny is denied by certain radical feminists, who claim that trans women are not female.

The English suffixes -phobia, -phobic, -phobe (from Greek φόβος "phobos", "fear") occur in technical usage in psychiatry to construct words that describe irrational, abnormal, unwarranted, persistent, or disabling fear as a mental disorder (e.g. agoraphobia), in chemistry to describe chemical aversions (e.g. hydrophobic), in biology to describe organisms that dislike certain conditions (e.g. acidophobia), and in medicine to describe hypersensitivity to a stimulus, usually sensory (e.g. photophobia). In common usage, they also form words that describe dislike or hatred of a particular thing or subject (e.g. homophobia). The suffix is antonymic to -phil-.

For more information on the psychiatric side, including how psychiatry groups phobias such as agoraphobia, social phobia, or simple phobia, see phobia. The following lists include words ending in "-phobia", and include fears that have acquired names. In some cases, the naming of phobias has become a word game, of notable example being a 1998 humorous article published by "BBC News". In some cases, a word ending in "-phobia" may have an antonym with the suffix "-phil-", e.g. Germanophobe / Germanophile.

A large number of "-phobia" lists circulate on the Internet, with words collected from indiscriminate sources, often copying each other. Also, a number of psychiatric websites exist that at the first glance cover a huge number of phobias, but in fact use a standard text to fit any phobia and reuse it for all unusual phobias by merely changing the name. Sometimes it leads to bizarre results, such as suggestions to cure "prostitute phobia". Such practice is known as content spamming and is used to attract search engines.

An article published in 1897 in "American Journal of Psychology" noted "the absurd tendency to give Greek names to objects feared (which, as Arndt says, would give us such terms as klopsophobia – fear of thieves, triakaidekaphobia – fear of the number 13...".

The fear of crime refers to the fear of being a victim of crime as opposed to the actual probability of being a victim of crime.

The fear of crime, along with fear of the streets and the fear of youth, is said to have been in Western culture for "time immemorial". While fear of crime can be differentiated into public feelings, thoughts and behaviors about the personal risk of criminal victimization, distinctions can also be made between the tendency to see situations as fearful, the actual experience while in those situations, and broader expressions about the cultural and social significance of crime and symbols of crime in people's neighborhoods and in their daily, symbolic lives.

Importantly, feelings, thoughts and behaviors can have a number of functional and dysfunctional effects on individual and group life, depending on actual risk and people's subjective approaches to danger. On a negative side, they can erode public health and psychological well-being; they can alter routine activities and habits; they can contribute to some places turning into 'no-go' areas via a withdrawal from community; and they can drain community cohesion, trust and neighborhood stability. Some degree of emotional response can be healthy: psychologists have long highlighted the fact that some degree of worry can be a problem-solving activity, motivating care and precaution, underlining the distinction between low-level anxieties that motivate caution and counter-productive worries that damage well-being.

Factors influencing the fear of crime include the psychology of risk perception, circulating representations of the risk of victimization (chiefly via interpersonal communication and the mass media), public perceptions of neighborhood stability and breakdown, the influence of neighbourhood context, and broader factors where anxieties about crime express anxieties about the pace and direction of social change. There are also some wider cultural influences. For example, some have argued that modern times have left people especially sensitive to issues of safety and insecurity.

Sadomasochism is the giving or receiving pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual gratification from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer respectively to one who enjoys giving or receiving pain, practitioners of sadomasochism may switch between activity and passivity.

The abbreviation S&M is often used for sadomasochism, although practitioners themselves normally remove the ampersand and use the acronym S-M or SM or S/M when written throughout the literature. Sadomasochism is not considered a clinical paraphilia unless such practices lead to clinically significant distress or impairment for a diagnosis. Similarly, sexual sadism within the context of mutual consent, generally known under the heading BDSM, is distinguished from non-consensual acts of sexual violence or aggression.

Specialists may prefer to avoid the suffix "-phobia" and use more descriptive terms such as personality disorders, anxiety disorders, and avoidant personality disorder.

A specific fear of clowns has sometimes been discussed in terms of a specific phobia. The term "" is a neologism coined in the context of informal ""-phobia" lists".

The term is not listed in the World Health Organisation's ICD-10 nor in the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5 categorization of disorders.

The person's appearance, behavior, and history, along with a psychological evaluation, are usually sufficient to establish a diagnosis. There is no test to confirm this diagnosis. Because the criteria are subjective, some people may be wrongly diagnosed.

ASPD commonly coexists with the following conditions:

When combined with alcoholism, people may show frontal function deficits on neuropsychological tests greater than those associated with each condition.

Recorded incidents of "amafufunyana" appear to have begun in the early 20th century and researchers such as Ngubane "et al" have suggested that its cultural formation may have had something to do with colonialism and migration of indigenous peoples away from their homes. There have also been widespread outbreaks of the condition, similar to events involving contagious spread of hysteria, recorded in the 1980s at a rural girl's boarding school.

The most common types of people that are identified as afflicted by the cultural group are those of the lowest economic and social level and more often during times of cultural hardship and change, such as during migrations. More women than men are also identified.

Psychiatrists seek to provide a medical diagnosis of individuals by an assessment of symptoms, signs and impairment associated with particular types of mental disorder. Other mental health professionals, such as clinical psychologists, may or may not apply the same diagnostic categories to their clinical formulation of a client's difficulties and circumstances. The majority of mental health problems are, at least initially, assessed and treated by family physicians (in the UK general practitioners) during consultations, who may refer a patient on for more specialist diagnosis in acute or chronic cases.

Routine diagnostic practice in mental health services typically involves an interview known as a mental status examination, where evaluations are made of appearance and behavior, self-reported symptoms, mental health history, and current life circumstances. The views of other professionals, relatives or other third parties may be taken into account. A physical examination to check for ill health or the effects of medications or other drugs may be conducted. Psychological testing is sometimes used via paper-and-pen or computerized questionnaires, which may include algorithms based on ticking off standardized diagnostic criteria, and in rare specialist cases neuroimaging tests may be requested, but such methods are more commonly found in research studies than routine clinical practice.

Time and budgetary constraints often limit practicing psychiatrists from conducting more thorough diagnostic evaluations. It has been found that most clinicians evaluate patients using an unstructured, open-ended approach, with limited training in evidence-based assessment methods, and that inaccurate diagnosis may be common in routine practice. In addition, comorbidity is very common in psychiatric diagnosis, where the same person meets the criteria for more than one disorder. On the other hand, a person may have several different difficulties only some of which meet the criteria for being diagnosed. There may be specific problems with accurate diagnosis in developing countries.

More structured approaches are being increasingly used to measure levels of mental illness.

- HoNOS is the most widely used measure in English mental health services, being used by at least 61 trusts. In HoNOS a score of 0–4 is given for each of 12 factors, based on functional living capacity. Research has been supportive of HoNOS, although some questions have been asked about whether it provides adequate coverage of the range and complexity of mental illness problems, and whether the fact that often only 3 of the 12 scales vary over time gives enough subtlety to accurately measure outcomes of treatment.

Transmisogyny is generally understood to be caused by the social belief that men are superior to women. In "Whipping Girl", Julia Serano writes that the existence of trans women is seen as a threat to a "male-centered gender hierarchy, where it is assumed that men are better than women and that masculinity is superior to femininity". Gender theorist Judith Butler echoes this assumption, stating that the murder of transgender women is "an act of power, a way of re-asserting domination... killing establishes the killer as sovereign in the moment that he kills".

Trans women are also viewed as threatening the heterosexuality of cisgender men. In media, "deceivers" such as Dil, a transgender woman from the 1992 film "The Crying Game", have been observed to invoke outrage and male homophobia in an audience when their "true" maleness is unveiled.

Piblokto, also known as pibloktoq and Arctic hysteria, is a condition most commonly appearing in Inughuit (Greenlandic Inuit) societies living within the Arctic Circle. Piblokto is a culture-specific hysterical reaction in Inuit, especially women, who may perform irrational or dangerous acts, followed by amnesia for the event. Piblokto may be linked to repression of the personality of Inuit women. The condition appears most commonly in winter. It is considered to be a form of a culture-bound syndrome, although more recent studies (see "Skepticism" section) question whether it exists at all. Piblokto is also part of the glossary of cultural bound syndromes found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).

There are several options for treatment of scopophobia. With one option, desensitization, the patient is stared at for a prolonged period and then describes their feelings. The hope is that the individual will either be desensitized to being stared at or will discover the root of their scopophobia.

Exposure therapy, another treatment commonly prescribed, has five steps:

- Evaluation

- Feedback

- Developing a fear hierarchy

- Exposure

- Building

In the evaluation stage, the scopophobic individual would describe their fear to the therapist and try to find out when and why this fear developed. The feedback stage is when the therapist offers a way of treating the phobia. A fear hierarchy is then developed, where the individual creates a list of scenarios involving their fear, with each one becoming worse and worse. Exposure involves the individual being exposed to the scenarios and situations in their fear hierarchy. Finally, building is when the patient, comfortable with one step, moves on to the next.

As with many human health problems support groups exist for scopophobic individuals. Being around other people who face the same issues can often create a more comfortable environment.

Other suggested treatments for scopophobia include hypnotherapy, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), and energy psychology. In extreme cases of scopophobia, it is possible for the subject to be prescribed anti–anxiety medications. Medications may include benzodiazepines, antidepressants, or beta-blockers.

Since the 1980s, Paula Caplan has been concerned about the subjectivity of psychiatric diagnosis, and people being arbitrarily “slapped with a psychiatric label.” Caplan says because psychiatric diagnosis is unregulated, doctors are not required to spend much time interviewing patients or to seek a second opinion. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders can lead a psychiatrist to focus on narrow checklists of symptoms, with little consideration of what is actually causing the patient’s problems. So, according to Caplan, getting a psychiatric diagnosis and label often stands in the way of recovery.

In 2013, psychiatrist Allen Frances wrote a paper entitled "The New Crisis of Confidence in Psychiatric Diagnosis", which said that "psychiatric diagnosis… still relies exclusively on fallible subjective judgments rather than objective biological tests." Frances was also concerned about "unpredictable overdiagnosis." For many years, marginalized psychiatrists (such as Peter Breggin, Thomas Szasz) and outside critics (such as Stuart A. Kirk) have "been accusing psychiatry of engaging in the systematic medicalization of normality." More recently these concerns have come from insiders who have worked for and promoted the American Psychiatric Association (e.g., Robert Spitzer, Allen Frances). A 2002 editorial in the "British Medical Journal" warned of inappropriate medicalization leading to disease mongering, where the boundaries of the definition of illnesses are expanded to include personal problems as medical problems or risks of diseases are emphasized to broaden the market for medications.

Empirical studies have found that the prognosis for conversion disorder varies widely, with some cases resolving in weeks, and others enduring for years or decades. There is also evidence that there is no cure for Conversion Disorder, and that although patients may go into remission, they can relapse at any point. Furthermore, many patients who are 'cured' continue to have some degree of symptoms indefinitely.

Gelotophobia is a fear of being laughed at, a type of social phobia. While most people do not like being laughed at, there is a sub-group of people that exceedingly fear being laughed at. Without obvious reasons, they relate laughter they hear to be directed at themselves. Since 2008, this phenomenon has attracted attention from scholars in psychology, sociology, and psychiatry, and has been studied intensively.

In his clinical observations, found that some of his patients seemed to be primarily worried about being laughed at. They tended to scan their environment for signs of laughter and ridicule. Furthermore, they reported that they had the impression of being ridiculous themselves. Additionally, Titze observed a specific movement pattern among them when they thought they were being laughed at—awkward, wooden movements that resembled those of wooden puppets. He described this state as “Pinocchio-syndrome”.

Two other behaviours related to laughter are gelotophilia - "the joy of being laughed at" and katagelasticism - "the joy of laughing at others".

The previous edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM IV-TR, defines histrionic personality disorder (in Cluster B) as:

The DSM-IV requires that a diagnosis for any specific personality disorder also satisfies a set of general personality disorder criteria.

According to the fourth revision of the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders", phobias can be classified under the following general categories:

- Animal type – Fear of dogs, cats, rats and/or mice, pigs, cows, birds, spiders, or snakes.

- Natural environment type – Fear of water (aquaphobia), heights (acrophobia), lightning and thunderstorms (astraphobia), or aging (gerascophobia).

- Situational type – Fear of small confined spaces (claustrophobia), or the dark (nyctophobia).

- Blood/injection/injury type – this includes fear of medical procedures, including needles and injections (trypanophobia), fear of blood (hemophobia) and fear of getting injured.

- Other – children's fears of loud sounds or costumed characters.

The psychological mechanism of conversion can be the most difficult aspect of a conversion diagnosis. Even if there is a clear antecedent trauma or other possible psychological trigger, it is still not clear exactly how this gives rise to the symptoms observed. Patients with medically unexplained neurological symptoms may not have any psychological stressor, hence the use of the term "functional neurological symptom disorder" in DSM-V as opposed to "conversion disorder", and DSM-V's removal of the need for a psychological trigger.