Psychiatric Illnesses

Question 1

Motivating factors for classifying psychiatric illnesses

Answer 1

Guiding treatment choices

Allowing clinicians to communicate

Serve parties who require diagnosis

To permit research - causes, treatment responsiveness, prognosis

Question 2

3 components needed for diagnosis in DSM

Answer 2

1. Clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behaviour
2. Dysfunction in psychological, biological, or development processes
3. Distress or disability in social, occupational, or other important activities

Question 3

Criticisms of DSM

Answer 3

Heterogeneity of symptoms: people may have the same disorder but with non-overlapping symptoms

Levels of detail: some disorders have a lot of detail, others don’t

Authority: who can judge the impairment? is it judged by clinician or self?

Comparator: should change be compared to the self, societal norms, or to none?

Question 4

Normative Assumptions

Answer 4

Evaluation of right/wrong

Question 5

Descriptive assumptions

Answer 5

What is or would be. Gives account without saying if it’s good or bad

Question 6

Historical deinstitutionalization

Answer 6

Replacement of long-term stay psych facilities with community mental health services

People with mental illness are at higher risk of incarceration if there is no adequate support

Question 7

Balloon theory

Answer 7

People with mental illness are at higher risk of incarceration if there is no adequate support

Question 8

Relationship between mental illness and violence

Answer 8

People with mental illness are not more violent than others from their same neighbourhoods

People with mental illness are violent for the same reasons other people are violent