Psychiatric specifier

Mild severity

Symptoms meet the disorder threshold with limited excess symptoms, distress, and functional impairment.

Severity and remission

Mood disordersOther specified diagnoses

What matters now

Applies toMood disorders · Other specified diagnoses

Deciding signalSeverity describes the whole episode: symptom burden, intensity, risk, and functional impact.

Ask thisIs the current episode genuinely lower in burden and impairment while still meeting the diagnostic threshold?

Wording outcomeMajor depressive disorder, single episode, mild

Fit and exclusions

Make the specifier earn its place

Start with the deciding signal, then test chronology, competing explanations, and the effect on diagnostic wording.

When this fits

When this may not fit

Risk, psychosis, catatonia, marked impairment, or severe biological disturbance indicates a higher severity level.
The person is below diagnostic threshold, in which case remission or another formulation may be more accurate.

Focused checks

Patient language

Clinical implication

Match treatment intensity to need while avoiding minimisation of meaningful distress or risk.