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Am I mad?. Classifying & Diagnosing mental disorders. . What's the difference between general medicine and Psychiatry?. Doctors look for signs of a disease (using tests such as x-rays or bloods) and the symptoms (pain , discomfort) ITS ALL ABOUT SYMPTOMS & SIGNS!!
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Am I mad? Classifying & Diagnosing mental disorders.
What's the difference between general medicine and Psychiatry? • Doctors look for signs of a disease (using tests such as x-rays or bloods) and the symptoms (pain , discomfort) • ITS ALL ABOUT SYMPTOMS & SIGNS!! • Psychiatrists look for the patients own description of the problem and use psychiatric test (counterpart to blood tests)& that of friends/family etc..
Is psychiatry value free? • Think homosexuality.. the late Oscar Wilde was imprisoned for homosexuality in 1895…A shift in cultural beliefs would now not allow such absurdity. • Hence the criteria used by psychiatry to judge abnormality must be seen in a moral context, not a medical one (Heather, 1976) • Psychiatry is a ‘quasi-medical illusion’
So how did it all begin??? • It began with the work of Kraepelin- He claimed certain groups of symptoms occur together sufficiently often for them to be called a disease or syndrome…an underlying physical cause. • He regarded each mental illness as distinct form all others with it’s own origins, symptoms course and outcome.
How did it begin??? • He classified two major groups • Dementia praecox (Chemical imbalance) and manic depressive psychosis (faulty metabolism). • This helped to establish possible organic causes and formed the basis of the DSM Diagnostic statistical Manual (APA est) • & the ICD International Classification of Diseases (WHO).
THEREFORE……. • The ICD 10 and DSM-IV TR are based largely upon the experiences and beliefs reported by patients because there is no other objective biological markers for psychotic or neurotic disorders (Frith & Cahill, 1995).
Kraepelin • His work is still embedded in the - • Mental Health Act (1983) The Act identifies 3 major categories • Mental disturbance/disorder. • Personality Disorders. • Mental Impairment.
Is psychiatry value free? • Thomas Szaz..a major mover & Shaker in the world of mental health suggests: • We seek to state norms in psychological ethical and legal terms ..yet we seek to remedy the situation using medical terms. • ‘Mental illness thus exists or is real in exactly the same sense in which witches existed or were real….’ Szaz (1962)
The Holy Grail..???? • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) A system devised by the American Psychiatric Association used by most professionals to diagnose and classify abnormal behaviour.
How does it work? • Five axes of the DSM-IV • DSM is designed to be primarily descriptive and devoid of suggestions as to the underlying causes of an individual’s behavior and problems.