Powerpoint slides

Question 1

Categorical Classification

Answer 1

• Emil Kraepelin
• Assumes that disorders have specific etiologies, pathologies, and treatments
• Assumes disorders are qualitatively distinct from normal functioning and from one another

Question 2

Limitations of Categorical Classification

Answer 2

• Doesn’t account for comorbidity—the co-occurrence of distinct disorders, apparently interacting with one another
• Certain disorders do not have distinct boundaries
• Symptoms may be better viewed along continuous dimensions of functioning

Question 3

Limitations of Categorical Classification: Comorbidity

Answer 3

Approximately 95% of individuals in a clinical setting who meet criteria for lifetime major depression or dysthymia also meet criteria for a current or past anxiety disorder; suggests the presence of a common, shared pathology

Question 4

Limitations of Categorical Classification: Boundaries

Answer 4

• No meaningful distinction can be made among many psychological disorders (e.g., early-onset dysthymia and depressive personality disorder)
• Difficult to distinguish between normal expression of a negative emotion and having a mental disorder
• Duration cutoffs are seemingly arbitrary

Question 5

Limitations of Categorical Classification: Boundaries cont.

Answer 5

• Substance Abuse and Dependence
  
  • Diagnosis does still refer to a disease, but one that is developed through normal social learning history
    
    • This diagnosis has been broadened in DSM-5, referred to as a behavioral addiction that includes pathological gambling

Question 6

Limitations of Categorical Classification: Boundaries cont.

Answer 6

Addiction and Related Disorders cont.
-The boundary between a behavioral addiction and substantial interest in an activity that a person finds highly pleasurable is difficult to

Question 7

Limitations of Categorical Classification: Boundaries cont.

Answer 7

Personality Disorders
Boundaries: with other mental disorders
-No clear or consistent boundary between the personality disorders and many other mental disorders, particularly certain mood, anxiety, impulse dyscontrol, and psychotic disorders
-Excessive participation in shopping, sex, or the Internet were considered for DSM-5
-Boundaries with other personality disorders
-Five factor model

Question 8

Limitations of Categorical Classification: Boundaries cont.

Answer 8

• Intellectual Disability
  - Precedent for dimensional classification
  - Intellectual disability in DSM-5 continues to be diagnosed along a continuum of intellectual and social functioning
  - Intellectual disability may serve as an effective model for the classification of the rest of the diagnostic manual

Question 9

Dimensional Classification

Answer 9

• Symptoms reflect quantitative deviations from normal functioning along particular dimensions to create a profile of emotional functioning
• Allows for a distinction between being “very sad” and having a major depressive disorder

Question 10

DSM-5

Answer 10

• Primary goal of the authors was to shift to a dimensional system
• However, it is acknowledged that DSM-5 remains a categorical classification of separate disorders
• Largely rejected by NIMH in favor of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)