Term
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Definition
how to tell one disorder from another
-some disorders have similar symptoms and clinicians must look at the symptoms that set the differentiate a disorder from being one as opposed to another (ex. difference between acute stress diorder and PTSD is length of time it lasts- acute is short, PTSD is long- otherwise they are the same)
-unique symptoms to a disorder |
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Term
| reliability and validity of the DSM |
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Definition
-current DSM is much more reliable then previous ones. this means that clinicians are likely to agree on the diagnosis when they use its system to diagnose the same client- interrater reliability
-however, as more research is conducted, opinions about diagnoses change, which creates some subjective differences between clinicians and thus its validity is constantly being debated
-validity of its classification system is the accuracy of info that its diagnostic categories provide
-predictive validity- when categories help predict future symptoms or events |
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Term
| multiaxial system of the DSM for diagnosis |
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Definition
| 5 axes -every diagnosis uses these five axes to make the diagnosis -Axis 1- clinical disorders- major psychological disorders -Axis 2-personality disorders- long term disorders -Axis 3-general medical conditions that are relevant to diagnosis clinical disorders and sometimes personality disorders -Axis 4- psychosocial and environmental problems- problems of social functioning, not mental illnesses necessarily, but could be part of cause Axis 5-global assessment of functioning (GAF)- scale of 0-100- lower score= worse functioning |
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Term
| polythetic criteria sets of the DSM |
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Definition
DSM mandates in some disorders that a person needs "x" number of symptoms for diagnosis
-2 people with the same disorder, can have 2 different sets of the same number of symptoms |
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Term
| subclinical manifestations of disorder |
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Definition
| when a client falls just under the threshold of being diagnosed with a disorder, but the clinician still recognizes the prevalence of its problems |
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Term
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Definition
- attempts to label levels of disorder-mild, moderate, severe
- creates some heterogeneity among people with the same disorder, who experience it differently
-not part of diagnosis code- more of a reference to help with treatements |
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Term
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Definition
-once diagnosed you carry the diagnosis for life- even if you are symptom free, or mostly.
-because of this remission specifiers are used to help people who no longer want to be labeled, cope with the label- could help with job searching, etc.
-assess level of remission: in partial remission, in full remission, looks at prior history as well to predict future occurrence likelihood |
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Term
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Definition
| first diagnosis- an educated guess as to what disorder someone has before all test results have been analyzed, and a complete history of the person has been considered |
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Term
| categorical vs. dimensional system |
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Definition
DSM is a categorical system- you either have the diagnosis or you do not.
-you must meet a certain threshold to be diagnosed
-also suggests that peoples abnormal behaviors are qualitatevely different from normal people- this could be a problem for people with depression, because everyone feels depressed sometimes, just less often
- dimensional system- not used by DSM- everyone is on a continuum- rates levels you have the disorder at, not just whether or not you have the disorder |
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Term
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Definition
it is possible to arrive at a wrong diagnostic conclusion
-can lead to self fulfilling prohpecies- act accordingly to their diagnosis, even if they were not before
-may consider themselves sick, and become worse off then before |
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