Specific phobia was previously listed as an Axis I disorder when using the DSM-IV. However, with the new DSM-5 that came out in 2013, the multiaxial system was dropped. It is unfortunate that the DSM-5 dropped the multiaxial system of diagnosis, as it was widely utilized by clinicians, and was helpful to take inventory of all the factors that came with an Axis I and Axis II diagnosis.
The DSM-5 committee did not give a reason why they dropped the multiaxial system- they just dropped it unilaterally, so it seems. Without the multiaxial system of diagnosis, clinicians will just focus on the DSM diagnosis without accounting for the other important factors which affect the mental disorder. For example, Axis III, which were medical illnesses that were associated with Axis I and II, will be ignored by clinicians. And arguably, Axis IV is the most important part of the diagnosis, as it accounts for the psychosocial and environmental factors that affect the person afflicted with a DSM diagnosis. Axis IV is how psychiatrists differentiated themselves from the rest of the medical specialties, and now we are just going to join the rest of the medical specialties and medicalize psychiatry too, even further. But I digress!
