PSYCO105 Lecture : DSM.docx
1 May 2012
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Document Summary
Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (dsm iv) A syndrome is considered to be a mental disorder if, and only if, it satisfies the following 3 criteria. 1. ) it involves a clinically significant detriment. 2. ) it derives from an internal source. Diagnosis: the process of assigning a label to a person"s mental disorder. Without a system to identify people whose disorders are similar, the accumulation of knowledge about causes, effective treatments, and eventual outcomes would be impossible. The extent to which different diagnosticians reach the same conclusion when they independently diagnose the same individuals. Apa strove to define mental disorders as objectively as possible (conducted field studies of alternative diagnostic systems. The systems that produced the greatest reliability were retained. ) An index of the extent to which the categories it identifies are clinically meaningful. One must first form a tentative, reliable diagnostic system. Compare people with the same diagnoses on histories, experiences, outcomes, and benefits from treatment.
