Classification System For Mental Health Flashcards
Outline the DSM-IV.
Describes approx 365 mental disorders and is a categorical system for diagnosing and classifying mental disorders based on recognisable symptoms that are precisely described for each disorder. It does not include information on causes or treatment.
What is the first axis of the DSM-IV? Describe it using an example.
Clinical disorders: Includes all mental disorders except for those in Axis 2. May have more than one disorder and is usually not present in the whole life. Eg. ADHD, schizophrenia, bipolar disease, phobic disorder.
What is the second axis of the DSM-IV? Describe it using an example.
Personality disorder and developmental disorders: usually continue throughout the lifespan. Eg. Autism, anti-social personality disorder.
What is the third axis of the DSM-IV? Describe it using an example.
General medical and physical conditions: info about medical conditions related to mental disorders. Eg. Diabetes, cancer, hypertension, heart disease.
What is the fourth axis of the DSM-IV? Describe it using an example.
Psychosocial and environmental problems: potential stressors in an individual’s life. Eg. Unemployed, legal problems, abusive relationship.
What is the fifth axis of the DSM-IV? Describe.
Overall level of psychological, social and occupational functioning. Score between 1 (very low level of functioning) and 100 (very high level of functioning).
What are the differences between DSM and ICD?
ICD includes both mental and physical disorders, whereas DSM only includes mental disorders.
Not as detailed as the DSM (no information on course or prevalence).
What are the similarities of DSM and ICD?
Identifies the disorder that best matches the symptoms presented.
Provides a detailed description of the disorder (also does not include information on cause and treatment).
What are the strengths of the categorical system?
Enhances communication amongst Mental Health Practitioners.
Contains large number of disorders with comprehensive information.
What are some of the weaknesses of the categorical system?
Does not describe the cause or treatment.
Subjective, as it’s based on patient’s awareness of symptoms.
Cultural bias.
Overlooks unique nature of the human condition.
Labelling an individual with a desired can lead to stigma.
What is the dimensional approach?
Classifies/ranks a person’s symptoms or characteristics of interests in terms of ‘how much’. Focus is on ranking a person’s symptoms on different dimensions, eg. Social withdrawal, agreeableness.
Allows MHP’s to compare scores and monitor the transitions over time.
What are the strengths of the dimensional approach?
Reduces the likelihood of labelling, so may reduce stigma.
Usually takes into account a wider range of symptoms and characteristics (and their severity).
Enables sufferers to see improvements in their condition more readily.
What are the weaknesses of the dimensional approach?
More difficult for MHP’s to communicate.
Hard to work out how many dimensions there should be for each disorder.
What is the categorical approach to classification system for mental health?
Is descriptive as it has a yes/no approach. I.e. Diagnosing if a person has a mental disorder based on the presence or absence of certain symptoms. Involves the DSM-IV and ICD-10.
