4DS Of Diagnosis

Question 1

What is diagnosis and why is it needed

Answer 1

Process of matching a persons behaviours, cognitions, feelings and desires to the symptoms of a mental disorder.

Helps all clinicians reach a the same objective conclusion while diagnosing a client.

Also helps provide information about prognosis and treatment

Question 2

4DS of diagnosis

Answer 2

Helps clinician determine wether or not a client may be suffering from a mental health disorder

Question 3

Deviance

Answer 3

Behaviours that are seen as abnormal ( differs from social norms which are social rules), or are rare = statistically infrequent.

Question 4

Dysfunction

Answer 4

The inability to conduct everyday activities, psychologists would use objective measures such as questionairres to determine this.

Can be lack of self care, affects in communication , trouble getting up in the morning.

Question 5

Distress

Answer 5

Subjective experience of feeling upset/anxious. This when symptoms cause eenotional pain.

Question 6

Danger

Answer 6

Any behaviour that can risk the persons life or others” lives.

Question 7

5D?

Answer 7

Duration
Clincians also take into account how long a patient has been feeling the symptoms before making an appropiate diagnosis.
If the symptoms have only been felt for a brief anount of time it wouldn’t be appropriate to diagnose.
Symptoms would need fo be felt for a specific amount of time

Question 8

Weakness: cultural differences

Answer 8

The role of culture can have a huge impact upon diagnosis, some behaviours that may feel alien or abnormal to the clinician may actually be a norm for the client due to their cultural background

Richard lakeman, “visionaries “ in New Zealand Maori society who hear voices, may be diagnosed with schizophrenia in many cultures but in Maori culture it is celebrated.

Question 9

labelling

Answer 9

VERY BIG WEAJNESS
Diagnosing a client w a disorder can serve as a label and this in turn can cause the client to then act accordingly to their label, which would either make the clients condition more worse or have acted as a self fulfilling prophecy where they act according to the stereotype of the conditon.

This can also cause discrimination against those who are diagnosed as there is a stigma towards those with mental health disorders

Question 10

Issues + debates

Answer 10

Social control?
Diagnosis can be used to control individuals within society and even be used as a potential abuse towards individuals.
This is seen in russia where Anatoly KORYAGIN, found that russia was pressurising psychiatrists to diagnose political rebels as mentally disturbed so they become institutionalised.

Question 11

Lack of objectivity

Answer 11

Weakness
While there might be efforts of objective measures, it is hard to be objective due to the ratings being of feelings.
It would be more objective if the client would be compared to a reference group rather than the rest of society.
Lack of objectivity can in turn affect reliability.
Clinician would require enough detailed information from not only the client but also of their community rather than on the subjective view of the clincian