issues in diagnosis and classification (6-9) Flashcards
what are the issues in the diagnosis of schizophrenia (6-9)?
6- co-morbidity
7- symptom overlap
8- culture bias in diagnosis
9- gender bias
what is the problem with co-morbidity?
•co-morbidity with other conditions, if conditions occur together a lot of the time then this calls into question the validity of their diagnosis and classification because they might actually be a single condition
•research found that about half of those diagnosed with schizophrenia also had a diagnosis of depression or substance abuse (depression 50%, substance abuse 49%)
•this means schizophrenia may not exist as a distinct condition
what is the problem with symptoms overlapping?
•there is considerable overlap between the symptoms of schizophrenia and other conditions
•for example, both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder involve positive symptoms (such as delusions) and negative symptoms (such as avolition)
•in terms of classification this suggests that schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may not be two different conditions but variations of a single condition
•this symptom overlap means schizophrenia may not exist as a distinct condition and even if it does it is hard to diagnose
what is the problem with culture bias in diagnosis’?
•some symptoms of schizophrenia (like hearing voices) have different meanings in different cultures (haiti people believe hearing voices are actually communications from ancestors)
•schizophrenia is diagnosed differently in different countries
•british people of african-caribena origin are up to nine times more likely to receive a diagnosis than white british people
•there may be an over interpretation of symptoms in black british people
•this means there may be a culturally bias diagnostic system
why is gender bias a problem in diagnosis?
•since the 1980s men have been diagnosed with schizophrenia more commonly than women (1:4:1)
•there is a possibility women are less vulnerable due to genetic factors
•it seems that women are under diagnosed and diagnosed later in life because they have closer relationships and hence get support- this leads to women with schizophrenia functioning better than men
•women also tend to ‘symptom mask’ as 84% of caring responsibilities still fall to them and they don’t want to lose their children
•therefore women may not be receiving the right treatment
what was the bristol doctors study? (1990s)
they found that indian men were 10x more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia (due to stress of migration, living in a racist society and the bias of white psychiatrists)
