Access over 20 million homework & study documents

PSY 270 DSM-IV Problems--Appendix G

Content type
User Generated
Type
Homework
Rating
Showing Page:
1/3
*Please be sure to use this tutorial as a guide only. Do not plagiarize and
do not resell as your own work. If you have any questions or problems
with the tutorial please get a hold of me before leaving any negative
feedback and I will resolve the issue. If you have trouble opening or
viewing the files please contact me and I will fix the problem as soon as I
can. Sometimes instructors change the syllabus so if the material does not
match your syllabus please let me know. If I do not respond right away
please be patient, I do have a full-time job and I try to check my messages
once a day. Thanks and good luck!!! :-)
PSY 270

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
Showing Page:
2/3
Axia College Material
Appendix G
The DSM-IV
The DSM-IV is an important tool for clinicians. It provides a standard for diagnoses to be
standardized across psychology; however, the DSM-IV is not as precise for diagnosing
personality disorders as some psychologists would like.
Give an example of each of the following problems identified in your readings and explain how
these problems could negatively affect a diagnosis.
1. Some criteria used for reaching a diagnosis cannot be observed directly.
When it comes to diagnosing personality disorders the DSM-IV has been criticized for a lack
of reliability. The clinician diagnoses personality disorders based upon information received
by a patient (or other significant individuals involved with the patient), but in fact the patient
may be making up symptoms or even presenting biased information about their own
symptoms, which would make the DSM-IV diagnosis unreliable. The lack of direct
observation could result in a misdiagnosis or misinterpretation of symptoms.
2. Personality disorders can be similar to each other.
Often a person is diagnosed with more than one personality disorder because the symptoms
seem to be interrelated when it comes to personality disorders according to the DSM-IV. The
fact that the symptoms for each personality disorder are so similar makes it hard to diagnose
a person with one single type of personality disorder because of the broad range of
symptoms given for each personality disorder according to the DSM-IV.
3. People with different personalities can be given the same diagnosis
All people are different, which means that symptoms can vary from person to person. The
DSM-IV does not cater to a variety of different personalities, which leaves little room for
individualism. An individual’s personality can greatly affect what is normal or abnormal when
it comes to evaluating symptoms for a diagnosis, and the fact that the DSM-IV does not take
this into account can leave room for misdiagnosis of symptoms. One good example that is
comparable to this situation would be the diagnosis of mental retardation. A low score on an
IQ test is one of the symptoms of mental retardation according to the DSM-IV. The IQ test
itself is geared towards middle to upper class society, which means that lower class
individuals are at a direct disadvantage even though they may be just as intelligent in other
ways (street smart vs. book smart). So, although there is a clear difference between
upper/middle class intelligence versus lower class intelligence the IQ test does not cater
towards a certain type of intelligence but rather a generalized view of intelligence.
4. Do you think that personality disorders are true mental illnesses? Why or why not?
I do believe that personality disorders are true mental illnesses because some of the causal
factors, such as genetics or brain abnormalities, cannot be controlled by the individual, which
renders them helpless to their condition. Personality disorders can also negatively affect a
person’s quality of life or the quality of life of those close to them, so it should be recognized
as a mental illness as a safety measure as well.
PSY 270

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
Showing Page:
3/3

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
Unformatted Attachment Preview
*Please be sure to use this tutorial as a guide only. Do not plagiarize and do not resell as your own work. If you have any questions or problems with the tutorial please get a hold of me before leaving any negative feedback and I will resolve the issue. If you have trouble opening or viewing the files please contact me and I will fix the problem as soon as I can. Sometimes instructors change the syllabus so if the material does not match your syllabus please let me know. If I do not respond right away please be patient, I do have a full-time job and I try to check my messages once a day. Thanks and good luck!!! :-) Axia College Material Appendix G The DSM-IV The DSM-IV is an important tool for clinicians. It provides a standard for diagnoses to be standardized across psychology; however, the DSM-IV is not as precise for diagnosing personality disorders as some psychologists wo ...
Purchase document to see full attachment
User generated content is uploaded by users for the purposes of learning and should be used following Studypool's honor code & terms of service.

Anonymous
I was stuck on this subject and a friend recommended Studypool. I'm so glad I checked it out!

Studypool
4.7
Trustpilot
4.5
Sitejabber
4.4