PSYC 406 AMU Mental Disorders Discussion – Description
For this week’s discussion assignment, respond to the following questions: There are clear advantages and criticisms of the current DSM and the process of diagnosis in general. What do you think about the current classification system and its collection of both categorical and dimensional information? What do you see as the biggest challenges in using it for diagnosis?
Remember that all posts are graded for substance and thoughtful consideration of the discussion topic. Your post must also end with a “Question to the Class” – something related to the topic that you found thought-provoking and about which you’d like to know more and have further dialog.
Classmate #1:
My opinion about the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) comes from a statement listed in the Preface it says “Since a complete description of the underlying pathological process is not possible for most mental disorders…the current diagnostic criteria are the best available description”. There is more to that sentence but it is stating that mental health disorders are so broad and diverse that it is almost impossible to know, understand and list everything out in a book to make everyone else smart on every aspect of mental health disorders. As you read a bit further it also mentions that this manual is a tool. How often do you use a #1 philips head screw driver when you should have used a #2? Did you know there was a difference? Some people meet the clear cut guidance that is listed in the book while others are borderline and that is where the criticism comes in because of over medicated children/adults. That borderline is the dimensional scale of the classification. With DSM V they combined Asperger’s, autism and another disorder. This gave more people the “autism” diagnosis which comes with a stigma. If you have seen the TV series The Good Doctor that is not how the majority of autistic people work. Yet TV shows and one name for multiple disorders creates that problem. That is what I see as the biggest challenge. I am hoping that people who are on the more extreme side of the scales will be willing to participate in studies both genetic and neurological so the field can advance its diagnostic techniques. Everything else we do is done through labs or a type of scan, we need to advance this field of study into the 21st century and not rely on tests that can be skewed or have user error!
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. Arlington: American Psychiatric Association.
Classmate #2:
Hello Class,
When it comes to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual there are only 5 versions of it and the most recent update is in 2013. It’s really shocking because there have been so many current events and major events that have happened and now the year is 2023. The last update of the DSM added, “Axes I, II, and III are now combined onto a single axis. Axes IV and V are recorded elsewhere in the clinician’s documentation.”(APUS, 2023). The axis are now combined compared to the DSM-III edition. When it comes to the DSM-V I really like how it is broken up into categorical and also dimensional information because it will be easier to break down certain diagnosis and understand the new criteria for it. “The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, (DSM-5) was the product of more than 10 years of effort by hundreds of international experts in all aspects of mental health.” (“About DSM-5 TR,” n.d.). The DSM-V is well established because it has over 10 years of input from a variety of mental health professionals. The biggest obstacle of using it for a diagnosis in today’s date is because of the fact that it is outdated and that the mental health field changes everyday. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a lot more mental disorders that are not recorded in the revision. This is one downside of the DSM-5 and another can be a clinician’s bias and also biased sampling of individuals with mental disorders. In summary, I would like to know if the DSM will always be the manual the mental health professional uses to diagnose patients?
Sources:
About DSM-5. TR. (n.d.). https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/dsm/about-dsm
APUS. (2023). Factors impacting diagnosis. Week Two: Biology and Classification of Mental Illness. Retrieved July 11, 2023 from https://myclassroom.apus.edu/d2l/le/enhancedSequenceViewer/109611?url=https%3A%2F%2Ff54cbe36-23a9-4505-85fe-e251f80ec34d.sequences.api.brightspace.com%2F109611%2Factivity%2F11050102%3FfilterOnDatesAndDepth%3D1
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