Defining and Classifying Psychological Disorders

Question 1

Medical Model

Answer 1

sees psychological conditions as sets of symptoms, causes, and outcomes, with treatments aimed at changing psychological processes in order to alleviate symptoms

Question 2

Biopsychosocial Model

Answer 2

includes physiological process within a more holistic view of the person

Question 3

Maladaptive Behaviour

Answer 3

determine by whether it causes distress to oneself or others, imparts day to day functioning, or increases the risk of injury or harm to oneself or others
-No specific line dividing normal from abnormal

Question 4

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM):

Answer 4

• a standardized manual to aid in the diagnosis of disorders
• provides symptoms and the number of symptoms that must be met in order to have the disorder, the origin of the symptoms, and prognosis or prediction of how these symptoms will persist or change over time

-Still difficult to diagnosis because disorders share symptoms, need to meet certain number of symptoms to be diagnosed

Question 5

Mental Disorder Defence

Answer 5

-claims that the defendant was in such an extreme, abnormal state of mind when committing that he or she could not discern that the actions were legally or morally wrongs