PSY 375 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Pleiotropy, Sexual Differentiation, Hypersomnia
Document Summary
Abnormal psychology: limitations of dsm, evolutionary causes of (susceptibility to) behavioral disorders, 1. Appropriate defenses or responses to problems (depression: 2. Side effects / pleiotropy / compromise: 3. Malfunction of module (or more general system: 5. Mismatch with current environment / time lag: 6. Limitations of dsm: the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (dsm) is published by the apa and provides diagnostic criteria for mental disorders. It aims to reliably classify what our society considers abnormal. This classification aids in treatment and management (insurance payment). The 1994 version has 297 disorders in 886 pages. Another version is scheduled for may 2012: dsm makes little sense from evolutionary perspective. Classifying and labeling is a key first step in science. However, simply because we can describe symptoms (a syndrome), that doesn"t mean we understand the disease in the sense of understanding its causes (proximate and ultimate) and treatment. Because the dsm isn"t organized around causality, it is entirely atheoretical.
