Psychological diversity in DSM categories DSM categories classify people according to the symptoms, not the causes, of psychological disorder. As a result, people with different psychological backgrounds can receive the same DSM diagnosis. Based on biographical information, both U.S. film star Kim Basinger (shown here in the 1997 film L.A. Confidential) and South Korean hip-hop musician Daniel Lee (also known as Tablo, in the group Epik High) appear to meet DSM criteria for the same disorder: social anxiety disorder. Yet their backgrounds differ. Ms. Basinger has been socially anxious since childhood; she appeared to teachers to be having a nervous breakdown whenever asked to read aloud in class (Cuncic, 2010). Mr. Lee, by contrast, developed social anxiety only later in life, due to a prolonged and public traumatic event. After graduating from Stanford University and returning to his home country, Mr. Lee was wrongly accused of falsifying his academic records. Newspaper articles and Internet sites attacked him for purported dishonesty. He eventually proved that he earned his degrees, but the attacks traumatized him, making him afraid to appear in public. “I’m damaged,” he says. “And I don’t know if I’ll ever be better” (Davis, 2011).