PS280 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Anorexia Nervosa, Factitious Disorder, Personality Disorder
Document Summary
A diagnosis consists of a determination or identification of nature of a person"s disease or condition or a statement of that finding. A diagnosis is made on the basis of a diagnostic system, a system of rules for recognizing and grouping various types of abnormalities. Accurate diagnosis provides important information for effective clinical intervention. The perfect diagnostic system would classify disorders on the basis of a study of presenting symptoms, etiology , prognosis and response to treatment. Diagnostic categories would then be established by determining exactly which patterns of presenting problems, with what kind of history, developed in which particular manner and responded differentially to various treatments. Classification is a fundamental activity of all humans. From a very early age we learn to classify objects by their colors, shapes and sizes. As we get older, our understanding of these objects becomes more sophisticated and we refine our taxonomy.
