The article examines in what extend the criteria and the categories used for diagnosis and the classification of mental health problems, are actually theoretical and methodological obstacles for the development of Epidemiology in mental health. The results lead to two main issues: (1) A theoretical consideration pointing to re-define the object of study traditionally built by the discipline itself, analyzing the classificatory schemes for psychics problems. (2) A work in the field analyzing the theoretical and operative schemes in which the professionals in mental health intervene. It tries to clarify in what extend the empirical notions and the scientific skills received by the psychologists, are the correct ones to the categories proposed to identify and diagnose the psychic pathologies. If human suffering is not just a biological problem, but takes place in a social, historical and cultural environment, it is necessary to have a very critical eye on the classificatory systems that ignore the social, cultural and institutional dimensions.
Mental health; Epidemiology; Classification of illnesses; Diagnosis; Psychic suffering