Diagnosis

Question 1

Abnormality (4 D’s)

Answer 1

Deviant -
Extreme/unusual behaviour to cultural norms

Dysfunctional -
Disrupts daily functioning
Disruptive in a way that can become dangerous (maladaptive)

Distress -
Upsetting behaviour of an individual.

Danger -
The danger of hurting oneself and others

Question 2

4 Dimensions Eval.

1 Strength 2 Weaknesses

Answer 2

Strengths
- Using all 4 Ds help to avoid errors in diagnosis. Neither over or under-inclusive. Using just one of the Ds could mean inaccuracies

Weaknesses
- Subjective. Ratings of stress etc. differ hugely from person to person. This reduces reliability of the diagnosis

• End up with labels for mental illnesses. e.g. Danger as a criterion makes people equate mental disorders to being dangerous, becoming distorted in the media. Fazel et al. (2009) concluded that most people with SZ aren’t any more dangerous than those without**

Question 3

Cultural Issues affecting diagnosis 5

Answer 3

Gurland (1970) found that psychiatrists in New York more likely to give SZ diagnosis than Affective disorders (e.g. depression) than those in London. Found this was due to differences in clinicians rather than clients. Suggests training and experience in different places can affect the interpretation of symptoms

Luhrmann (2015) found that hearing voices was seen as negative in the USA, but positive in India.

Koro (mental disorder) exclusive to Asia. If in western society it could be diagnosed incorrectly as a different disorder

Issues with translation due to different languages being spoken

DSM-V created by Americans for Americans