Diagnostic & Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders Essay
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is an authoritative guide published by American Psychological Association (APA) used by health care professionals guiding the diagnosis for mental disorders containing symptoms, descriptions and criteria. Many editions of DSM are being modified, reviewed and enlarged when first DSM I was introduced by APA in 1952. New categories of diagnosis were introduced with distinct hierarchy in well-known practice recommending single pathology identification explaining clinical status symptoms (Birgegård, Norring and Clinton 2012). Gradually, the concept of DSM III was abolished and the concept of co-morbidity was introduced confirming DSM IV during 1990s. In 2013, a new version was introduced by APA providing an official list of mental disorders. It guides treatment for mental disorders being the largest change reflecting scientific understanding of the mental issues and its treatment. A lot of modifications took place from DSM IV to DSM V having implications on the understanding and treatment of mental disorders. Diagnostic & Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders Essay. The modifications took place in seven aspects; autism spectrum, bipolar disorder, ADHD diagnosis, PTSD symptoms, dementia reclassification, intellectual disability and artificial categorization modification (Regier, Kuhl and Kupfer 2013). The following discussion involves the critical evaluation of three major changes from DSM IV to V in terms of bipolar disorder, autism spectrum and dementia reclassification.
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The main change occurred in DSM V is that the terminology of “general medical condition” is modified to “another medical condition” relevant for disorders. DSM IV failed to reflect upon the shared symptoms or features of diagnostic groups like bipolar disorders with psychotic disorders, internalizing (depressive, anxiety, somatic) or externalizing disorders (conduct, substance abuse, impulse control) (Cosgrove and Krimsky 2012). On a contrary, DSM V restructured interrelationships, across and within diagnostic chapters. The strength of earlier DSM classification was to diagnose baseline psychiatric diagnosis on the defined and operational criteron that resulted in inter-rater reliability. This was the greatest weakness in DSM IV where patients were formally diagnosed under which only half of the patients were actually treated. There was lack of operational categorization of subthreshold diagnoses in DSM IV whereas in DSM V, there is high recognition where large number of patients is seeking treatment who were formally under “Not Otherwise Specified” (NOS) group (Kupfer, Kuhl and Regier 2013). Diagnostic & Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders Essay.
Elimination of bipolar disorder is a major modification from DSM IV to V. DSM IV contains diagnosis of mixed episode, bipolar I disease requires that the person meet the full criteria simultaneously for major depressive episode and mania that is removed in DSM V. There is enhancement in the accuracy for diagnosis and its facilitation at early stage detection in t
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The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) system is a classification tool that is highly used in North America. This manual covers many different disorders such as: learning, developmental, anxiety, and substance disorders. The DSM uses a specific diagnosis criteria to group patterns of abnormal behaviors that share common features. The DSM also uses a multiaxial system of evaluation, which consists of the following: clinical syndromes, personality disorders and mental retardation, general medical conditions, psychosocial and environmental problems, and global assessment of functioning. The DSM system uses specified diagnostic criteria and a multiaxial system to provide an understanding of the person’s functioning.Diagnostic & Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders Essay. The DSM contains more than two hundred specific diagnostic categories that are arranged under eighteen primary headings.
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For example, the category of anxiety disorders contains subtypes i.e. panic disorders, phobias, and obsessive compulsive disorders. The DSM outlines the specific criteria for each mental disorder. Disorders are also classified in terms of exclusion criteria. With the help of these criteria the diagnoses are understood and misdiagnosis are avoided.
There are three weaknesses in the DSM. These weaknesses include, the questions about reliability (level of consistency of measurements), validity (extent to which the test measures what it is supposed to measure) and about the medical model framework.
There are some major changes between the DSM-IV and DSM-5. One of the changes include the DSM-5 replacing the multiaxial system with a nonaxial assessment system combining axes I, II, and III at the same diagnostic level, with special reference of psychosocial factors and disabilities. Another major change is the reorganization of disorders according to developmental lifespan progressions. The DSM-5 includes an official diagnostic criteria that appears in section II chapters compared to section III chapters. When comparing the two, section III chapters now contains optional dimensional, cultural, alternative personality disorder model and conditions for further study. Diagnostic & Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders Essay.
Some deletions were made to the the DSM-IV for example, the removal of the Global Assessment of Function (GAF) scale due to validity and reliability issues. The DSM-V replaced the DSM-IV designation with two options: other specified disorders and unspecified disorders. The DSM-V has a greater emphasis on dimensionality and has a Cultural Formation Interview presented in section III that assesses the impact of culture on clinical presentation. Diagnostic & Statistical Manual Of Mental Disorders Essay.