DSM Basics

Question 1

difference between syndrome, disorder, and disease

Answer 1

Syndrome: lowest level of understanding, neither pathology nor etiology is understood, nor is the causal relation to other conditions

disorder: second level of understanding, syndromes that cannot be readily explained by other conditions

disease: highest level of understanding, where pathology and etiology are well understood

Question 2

functions of psychiatric diagnoses

Answer 2

communication- distills relevant info.
establishing linkages with other diagnoses- helps locate a patient’s presenting problems within the context of more/less related disorders
provision of surplus information- can generate predictions about trajectory

Question 3

4 requirements for validity of psychiatric diagnosis

Answer 3

1. clinical description differs from seemingly related disorders (differential diagnosis)
2. lab research
3. natural history (including course and outcomes)
4. family studies examining the prevalence of the disorder in 1st degree relatives

should be able to predict the patient’s response to treatment

Question 4

endophenotypes

Answer 4

typical biomarker or lab indicators

Question 5

exophenotypes

Answer 5

traditional signs/ symptoms of a disorder

Question 6

social construction theory

Answer 6

the higher-order concept of a disorder is a social construction that groups a variety of largely unrelated conditions for social and semantic convenience

Question 7

DSM 3

Answer 7

first DSM to adopt the multiaxial approach, dropped in DSM 5

Question 8

pathognomonic indicator

Answer 8

one that can be used by itself to establish the presence or absence of a disorder

Question 9

4 key criticisms of DSM 5

Answer 9

1. comorbidity
2. medicalization of normality
3. neglect of the attenuating paradox
4. unsupported retention of a categorical model

Question 10

attenuation paradox

Answer 10

efforts to achieve higher reliability can sometimes decrease validity

Question 11

CONCEPTION of psychopathology

Answer 11

provides one definition of which human experiences are pathological, and which are not

Question 12

THEORY of psychopathology

Answer 12

provides an explanation of those psychological phenomena and experiences that were identified by a psychopathology conception

Question 13

psychopathology as a harmful dysfunction

Answer 13

all disorders, including mental disorders, are harmful dysfunctions: socially devalued breakdowns of evolutionarily selected systems

Question 14

essentialism

Answer 14

there are natural categories and all members of a category share important characteristics

Question 15

DSM 1

Answer 15

designed to be compatible with ICD, but to be used in the USA
published in 1968

Question 16

DSM-4-TR

Answer 16

the text discussion was expanded to include cultural and ethnic group variation

published in 2000

Question 17

DSM-4

Answer 17

provides a discussion of how each disorder is known to vary in presentation across cultures

added an appendix of culture-bound syndromes

added an appendix of culturally informed diagnostic formulations that consider cultural identity and culture-specific explanations

included differential definitions of sex and gender