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Social Science Psychology Loose-leaf Version for Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology

What issues may occur with the process of clinical diagnosis and use of classification systems in the DSM. Concept introduction: When a certain cluster of symptoms (also known as a syndrome) recurrently occur together and follow a particular course, clinicians agree that those symptoms make up a particular psychological disorder, and if people then exhibit this pattern of symptoms, diagnosticians assign those individuals to that diagnostic category. This list of categories, each containing descriptions of their symptoms and the guidelines for assigning people to these categories, is called a classification system. However, this diagnostic system is far from perfect, and can be accompanied by certain problems. The DSM-5 contains 500+ mental disorders, and each entry outlines the criteria for diagnosing the disorder and the chief clinical features associated with the disorder, as well as other features frequently but not usually related to the disorder. The classification system also lists background information that includes research findings, age, culture, or gender trends; and each disorder’s prevalence, risk, course, complications, predisposing factors, and familial patterns. Despite the best efforts of DSM framers, the classification system and process of clinical diagnosis still has their inherent problems. These problems include questionable validity and reliability, an insufficient number of investigations—especially field studies—to test the merits of the new diagnostic criteria and categories, thus reflecting weak research; and the possibility that gender or racial bias may also be reflected in some of the criteria and categories in the DSM-5. Also, diagnosis and labeling can still cause harm. Even if assessment data are trustworthy and diagnostic classification categories are valid and reliable, clinicians can still arrive at an erroneous conclusion. Clinicians may pay too much attention to certain sources of information while simultaneously overlooking others, and there is also the potential for their judgments to be distorted by numerous personal biases (e.g. gender, age, race, and socioeconomic status). Other problems can include a diagnostic label possibly becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy and also making it difficult for individuals to obtain employment or assimilate back into society.

What issues may occur with the process of clinical diagnosis and use of classification systems in the DSM. Concept introduction: When a certain cluster of symptoms (also known as a syndrome) recurrently occur together and follow a particular course, clinicians agree that those symptoms make up a particular psychological disorder, and if people then exhibit this pattern of symptoms, diagnosticians assign those individuals to that diagnostic category. This list of categories, each containing descriptions of their symptoms and the guidelines for assigning people to these categories, is called a classification system. However, this diagnostic system is far from perfect, and can be accompanied by certain problems. The DSM-5 contains 500+ mental disorders, and each entry outlines the criteria for diagnosing the disorder and the chief clinical features associated with the disorder, as well as other features frequently but not usually related to the disorder. The classification system also lists background information that includes research findings, age, culture, or gender trends; and each disorder’s prevalence, risk, course, complications, predisposing factors, and familial patterns. Despite the best efforts of DSM framers, the classification system and process of clinical diagnosis still has their inherent problems. These problems include questionable validity and reliability, an insufficient number of investigations—especially field studies—to test the merits of the new diagnostic criteria and categories, thus reflecting weak research; and the possibility that gender or racial bias may also be reflected in some of the criteria and categories in the DSM-5. Also, diagnosis and labeling can still cause harm. Even if assessment data are trustworthy and diagnostic classification categories are valid and reliable, clinicians can still arrive at an erroneous conclusion. Clinicians may pay too much attention to certain sources of information while simultaneously overlooking others, and there is also the potential for their judgments to be distorted by numerous personal biases (e.g. gender, age, race, and socioeconomic status). Other problems can include a diagnostic label possibly becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy and also making it difficult for individuals to obtain employment or assimilate back into society.

Loose-leaf Version for Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology

Loose-leaf Version for Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology

8th Edition

ISBN: 9781464177002

Author: Ronald J. Comer

Publisher: Worth Publishers

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