Week 2 Discussion: Diagnosing and Classifying Psychological Disorders
Locked after Tuesday, June 29, 2021 6:00 PM EDT.
Image by Mary Pahlke open domain
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is the reference source mental health professionals and physicians use to diagnose mental disorders. The most recent edition, the DSM-5, was released in 2013. Since its inception, the DSM has been growing in size. According to Week 1’s Learning Resource, History of Mental Illness, the number of diagnosable disorders has tripled since the first publication in 1952 (Farreras, 2020). The DSM-5 added approximately 10 percent new diagnostic categories from the DSM-IV.
Contemplate these points:
the diagnosis of hording was added to the DSM-5, elevating it from a subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
caffeine use disorder and Internet gaming disorder were added to the DSM-5, placed in a special section reserved for disorders in need of further study
mental health diagnostic awareness is growing: across social media, prescription drug advertising, and TV programming (Dexter – Antisocial Personality Disorder with comorbidity in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; Homeland – Bipolar)
Your Task
1. Main Entry: Provide your response to the following questions. Support your response through the synthesis of concepts from the week’s readings and learning resources.
a. What does the ever-expanding list of diagnostic categories within the DSM mean to you, to me, your neighbor, to the fellow in the next town? Is the expansion of what is considered diagnostically “mentally disordered” within the DSM something we should be tracking? Why or why not?
b. Are practitioners’ practical approaches/perspectives on psychological disorders influencing their acceptance or rejection of diagnostic labels within the DSM-5?
c. What is the relevance / need for diagnostic labels? Is it naïve to reject the use of diagnostic labels?
2. Peer Responses: Post Constructive Peer Feedback. In addition to posting your main entry, respond to at least TWO (2) of your classmates’ entries. In 3 or more sentences, provide constructive feedback. What did you find interesting? Do you have additional thoughts? Share them. When providing your feedback present the logic behind it.
Farreras, I. G. (2020). History of mental illness. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Campaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved from http://noba.to/65w3s7ex………….
Student Responses
1: Leigh-Ann Lucas – Week 2 Discussion
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Leigh-Ann Lucas posted Jun 24, 2021 1:19 PM
a. What does the ever-expanding list of diagnostic categories within the DSM mean to you, to me, your neighbor, to the fellow in the next town? Is the expansion of what is considered diagnostically “mentally disordered” within the DSM something we should be tracking? Why or why not?
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) has changed over time as psychological disorders have become more studied and understood. The information about disorders includes a detailed description, an overview, criteria for a diagnosis, the percentage of the population that is thought to have the disorder, prevalence rates over a lifetime, information about comorbidity, and the risks that are linked to the disorder. The DSM – 5 has 237 disorders which is more than double the amount from the first DSM that was released in 1952. The growth of the number of disorders is not a terrible thing, it simply means new information about mental disorders is being discovered and new ways of categorizing and diagnosing them are being used (UMGC, n.d.). It also does not mean that every problem a person suffers from is a mental illness. For example, I recently did not get a job that I was very excited about and I was sad about it. However, I did not meet the criteria for the symptoms of a major depressive disorder which includes insomnia, change in appetite, and suicidal thoughts (Roberts & Louie, 2015). I was simply sad about missing out on a great opportunity. When thoughts, feelings, or behaviors are atypical and distressful to a person or others around the person, that “could signify the presence of a psychological disorder” (UMGC, n.d.). The ever-expanding list of diagnostic categories also means there is hope for a person who is suffering because their symptoms could be diagnosed and treated.
The expansion of what is considered diagnostically “mentally disordered” within the DSM should be tracked so there it can be determined if the current DSM has got it right or if diagnoses, classifications, and treatments need to be revised.
b. Are practitioners’ practical approaches/perspectives on psychological disorders influencing their acceptance or rejection of diagnostic labels within the DSM-5?
The DSM-5 takes cultural differences into consideration in the symptom descriptions (UMGC, n.d.). This could help practitioners with different perspectives be more willing to accept a diagnostic label from the DSM-5. A practitioner’s perspective will influence how they understand and explain a psychological disorder’s development. It will also influence how they approach the studying, cause, and treatment (UMGC, n.d.). For example, a practitioner who has a supernatural perspective might believe a person who is suffering from a psychological disorder is possessed. The DSM-5 does include possession as a characteristic of dissociative disorder in order to make the DSM-5 “more applicable to culturally diverse situations within the United States and around the world than the DSM-IV version” (Roberts & Louie, 2015).
c. What is the relevance / need for diagnostic labels? Is it naïve to reject the use of diagnostic labels?
Diagnostic labels are helpful for understanding that the atypical behavior, feelings, and thoughts a person is having could be from a psychological disorder and finding treatment. On the other hand, a person could feel stigmatized by their diagnostic label and it could have an impact on how they are treated by others. Rejecting the use of diagnostic labels could cause the person to not receive necessary treatment and possibly get worse.
Roberts, L. W. & Louie, A. K. (2015). Study guide to DSM-5. UMGC Course Resource. Retrieved from https://eds-b-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.umgc.edu/eds/ebookviewer/ebook?sid=cff226a2-5fea-414b-9e7d-467ae4c486d5%40pdc-v-sessmgr03&ppid=Page-__-3&vid=0&format=EK
UMGC. (n.d.). What are psychological disorders? PSYC 353 Week One Resource. Retrieved from https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/581895/Home
UMGC. (n.d.). Diagnosing and classifying psychological disorders. PSYC 353 Week Two Resource. Retrieved from https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/581895/Home
2: W2D1 – Ashlyn Holter
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Ashlyn Holter posted Jun 24, 2021 10:15 PM
a. What does the ever-expanding list of diagnostic categories within the DSM mean to you, to me, your neighbor, to the fellow in the next town? Is the expansion of what is considered diagnostically “mentally disordered” within the DSM something we should be tracking? Why or why not?
The ever-expanding, and sometimes decreasing, list of diagnostic categories within the DSM means that the field of Psychology, where mental/psychological disorders are concerned, is still being researched and all criteria are continuously being examined and defined. For example, the first two versions of the DSM showed homosexuality as a disorder, however it was later removed in 1973. This can be both a positive and negative fact. Someone may have been diagnosed per previous DSM criteria with one disorder, only to find that per the new DSM they should actually be diagnosed with something else. This would be beneficial in that it may mean that they will now begin getting treatment for the correct issue if previous treatment was not working.
Tracking what is considered diagnostically “mentally disordered” is something we should be tracking. It gives us an idea of how psychological disorders have been classified over the decades and how they have changed.
b. Are practitioners’ practical approaches/perspectives on psychological disorders influencing their acceptance or rejection of diagnostic labels within the DSM-5?
I would absolutely agree that practitioners’ practical approaches/perspectives on psychological disorders are influencing their acceptance or rejection of diagnostic labels within the DSM-5. As stated by this week’s material, new diagnostic labels are facing the criticism of potentially overpathologizing the human condition in which we turn common human issues into mental illnesses
c. What is the relevance / need for diagnostic labels? Is it naïve to reject the use of diagnostic labels?
Diagnostic labels are necessary to ensure an individual gets the treatment and help they actually need. Since many disorders (such as unipolar depression and bipolar depression) can be very similar, without the labels and criteria listed to meet each condition, it could land an individual getting treated for the wrong condition. This can lead to worsening of the condition and lengthens the time of ailment for the person.
-Ashlyn
Spielman, R. M. (2018d). Psychology Unit 16, Module 3: Diagnosing and Classifying Psychological Disorders. Retrieved from https://www.oercommons.org/courseware/module/15381/overview
Spielman, R. M. (2018c). Psychology Unit 16, Module 4: Perspectives on psychological disorders. Retrieved from https://www.oercommons.org/courseware/module/15382/overview
