Clinical: 4D's of Diagnosis

Question 1

What are the 4 D’s of Diagnosis?

Answer 1

Deviance
Dysfunction
Distress
Danger

Question 2

What is meant by Deviance (when discussing diagnosis)?

Answer 2

How rare/ infrequent the behaviour is within society

Does it break social norms?

Question 3

What is meant by Dysfunction (when discussing diagnosis)?

Answer 3

If their behaviour interferes with their life

Question 4

What is meant by Distress (when discussing diagnosis)?

Answer 4

Does it cause the individual to become upset?

Question 5

What is meant by Danger (when discussing diagnosis)?

Answer 5

Does it cause danger to themselves/others?

Question 6

Is Diagnosis reliable?

Answer 6

Everything is self-reported by the patient: The patient’s recall may be biased

Everything is interpreted by the clinician, which may have a biased perspective on the patient’s symptoms.problems

The subjectivity weakens reliability

Question 7

What are the Strengths + Weaknesses of the 4Ds of Diagnosis?

Answer 7

The 4D’s of diagnosis is a standardised procedure

Therapists will have to cover all 4D’s, which is a long + difficult process that leads to different views

Question 8

What are the Issues + Debates surrounding Diagnosis?

Answer 8

Social Control: Some argue that clinicians have a lot, or even too much power in making diagnoses. Once a person is labelled as ‘mentally ill’ there are serious implications + it can be difficult for them to lose that label. Many individuals who have bee sectioned under the mental health act find it to be a distressing + dehumanising process, as their power to make decisions is removed, and some are treated badly in care

Practical Issues: Research into mental health often involves data form the diagnosis of real patients. The diagnosis method of clinical interviews is subjective; due to relying on self report, ad clinician bias. This leads to inaccurate/inconsistent diagnosis between clinicians