Major Depressive Disorder Codes
Download the mental health ICD-10 codes cheat sheet
Download free resource
Enter your email below to access this resource.
By entering your email address, you are opting-in to receive emails from SimplePractice on its various products, solutions, and/or offerings. Unsubscribe anytime.
For mental health practitioners, finding the right major depressive disorder code is important. Using the wrong ICD-10, or F code, for major depressive disorder can cause delays in insurance reimbursement and add unnecessary administrative time for clinicians.
Although clinicians must use ICD-10 codes to bill insurance, clinicians can use additional specifiers and DSM-5 diagnostic measures to further describe their patient’s symptoms.
What are ICD-10 codes and DSM codes?
The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) is a guide published by the World Health Organization (WHO) that allows clinicians around the world to use standard diagnostic language.
Using the same descriptions allows clinicians and statisticians to better measure and track health information and enables greater specificity in identifying health conditions.
In the United States, behavioral health practitioners use the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), which also contains ICD-10 codes. For example, in the DSM-5, you’ll be able to find the DSM code for major depressive disorder and its corresponding ICD-10 code.
This article provides an overview of the major depressive disorder codes to support clinicians in identifying the right code for their patients and practice.
Bookmark this article as a reference to use next time you need to access the most common diagnostic codes for major depressive disorder.
What is the major depressive disorder code?
ICD-10 codes are used to record diagnoses, accompany assessments, and bill insurance payers. More commonly referred to as F codes, there are a total of 15 depressive disorders listed in the ICD-10 under the section “Mood [affective] disorders.”
However, what is classified as “major depressive disorder” (F33.1 diagnosis code)—i.e. moderate or severe depression—is the 3rd most frequently billed ICD-10 code in SimplePractice’s list of the 20 most-frequently billed ICD-10 codes.
Other ICD-10 codes frequently used to diagnose depression are F32 and F33. F32 denotes singular episodes of depression, whereas F33 describes recurrent depressive disorders.
F32 diagnosis codes:
- Depressive episode (F32)
- Mild depressive episode (F32.0)
- Moderate depressive episode (F32.1)
- Severe depressive episode without psychotic symptoms (F32.2)
- Severe depressive episode with psychotic symptoms (F32.3)
- Other depressive episodes (F32.8)
- Depressive episode, unspecified (F32.9)
F33 diagnosis codes:
- Recurrent depressive disorder (F33)
- Recurrent depressive disorder, current episode mild (F33.0)
- Recurrent depressive disorder, current episode moderate (F33.1)
- Recurrent depressive disorder, current episode severe without psychotic symptoms (F33.2)
- Recurrent depressive disorder, current episode severe with psychotic symptoms ( F33.3)
- Recurrent depressive disorder, currently in remission (F33.4)
- Other recurrent depressive disorders (F33.8)
- Recurrent depressive disorder, unspecified (F33.9)
Using the DSM-5 F33.1 diagnosis code
The term “major depressive disorder” is used by the DSM-5 to describe five or more depressive symptoms—such as depressed mood and insomnia—for a period of two weeks or longer.
When recording a DSM code for major depressive disorder, clinicians should write the diagnosis in the following order:
- Major depressive disorder,
- Single or recurrent episode,
- Severity/psychotic/remission specifiers,
- And the relevant specifiers:
- With anxious distress
- With mixed features
- With melancholic features
- With atypical features
- With mood-congruent psychotic features
- With mood-incongruent psychotic features
- With catatonia
- With peripartum onset
- With seasonal pattern
Differential diagnoses for major depressive disorder
Even though patients may meet some of the criterion for a depressive disorder, there may be a more appropriate diagnosis, such as:
- Bipolar I disorder, bipolar II disorder, or other specified bipolar and related disorder
- Depressive episode due to another medical condition
- Substance/medication-induced depressive disorder
- Persistent depressive disorder
- Premenstrual dysphoric disorder
- Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder
- Major depressive episodes related to schizophrenia, delusional disorder, or other specified or unspecified schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders.
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Adjustment disorder with depressed mood
- Bereavement
- Sadness
How to find the ICD-10 major depressive disorder
The full list of major depressive disorder codes are available in the following digital and book formats:
- ICD-10 Data, a searchable ICD-10 database
- The official ICD-10 under the subheading “Mood [Affective] Disorders” and sub-sections “Depressive Episode” and “Recurrent Depressive Episode”
- DSM-5 throughout the textbook and online. The hard copy contains a handy alphabetical list and numerical list of ICD-10 codes.
It is worth noting that while the DSM-5 does contain corresponding ICD-10 codes, they may not align with the most recent ICD version or diagnostic criteria, other indicators may also differ.
How SimplePractice streamlines running your practice
SimplePractice is HIPAA-compliant practice management software with everything you need to run your practice built into the platform—from booking and scheduling to insurance and client billing.
If you’ve been considering switching to an EHR system, SimplePractice empowers you to streamline appointment bookings, reminders, and rescheduling and simplify the billing and coding process—so you get more time for the things that matter most to you.
Try SimplePractice free for 30 days. No credit card required.