FIGURE 2.

Three challenges of diagnostic classification as viewed from a network perspective: overlap, bridging, and heterogeneity^a

^aOverlap occurs when nodes are shared between multiple classifications (e.g., worry is common in almost all anxiety disorders). Bridging: even when categories are constrained to be mutually exclusive, they are often bridged by important causal connections and are thus rarely truly disentangled in practice. Heterogeneity: relationships between symptoms are unlikely to be perfectly consistent across different individuals.