Diagnosing Case Study Essay

This diversity in the professions that contribute to the criteria found in the DSM-5 can only assist in assuring the validity of the disorders presented within it. The disorders contained in the manual all have a series of specific requirements that an individual must

The strengths when working with clients on a medical model perspective is that the use of the DSM provides a common language to use in the medical community. The DSM provides reliability and structural guideline to each mental disorder. The structural guidelines in the DSM provide an organized list of criteria and specifiers to help determine the severity of the mental disorder. When diagnosing a client, there are many similar signs and symptoms to each mental disorder; thus, the DSM provides the clinician information about differential diagnosis, prevalence, possible co-morbidity, age of onset, and progressive development of symptoms. Hence, focusing on the medical model and using the DSM can be beneficial to both the client and the clinician providing treatment.

For those who experienced a traumatic event this can mean reacting to events that are unthreatening as if it is the past trauma. Consequently, the individual will have uncomfortable bodily sensations and have a difficult time understanding their meaning. Implicit memory in trauma is made when the hippocampus and cortex is deactivated, allowing only the amygdala and other emotional, visual, and somatic areas of the brain to process the information (Swenson, 2012). This results in memories that are visual, sensory, emotional, and somatic in nature without a connection to narrative memory or explicit memory (Swenson, 2012). For those who experience trauma, implicit memories can mean reacting to unthreatening evens as if it is the past trauma, or having uncontrollable bodily sensations and being unable to understand their meaning (Swenson,

as well as verbal behaviour and overt motor behaviour), thinking and feeling that are associated with distress or impairment (Corsini, 2000; Persons, 1989; Persons & Tompkins, 1997; Stevens & Morris, 1995;

Reference(s): Dr. Carlos Zarate Jr., MD - Bethesda, MD - Psychiatry | Healthgrades.com: https://www.healthgrades.com/physician/dr-carlos-zarate-gc2mt NIMH » Staff: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/labs-at-nimh/research-areas/clinics-and-labs/etpb/staff.shtml Scholarly Journals APA 6th – American Psychological Association, 6th Edition Zarate, Carlos A., Jr, Tohen, M., Land, M., & Cavanagh, S. (2000).

(2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5®). Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Publishing.

The elimination of Axis IV also brought attention to how practitioners and clinicians address psychosocial problems. The chairs of the DSM-5 have the impression that psychosocial problems should be addressed by social workers. This does not mean that psychosocial problems are not significant, they are just not significant in diagnosing mental disorders. The DSM-5 is developing a commonality between medical conditions and mental disorders, making them epiphenomenal to diagnosis (Neimeyer, 2014).

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.: Author.

Additionally, Frye assertion that revisions of the DSM (Diagnostic Statistical Manual), specifically DSM-III, DSM-III-R, and DSM-IV, have somehow contributed to the “looser” (Frye, 2015, p. 1) parameters of diagnostic criteria thereby increasing the prevalence or frequency of diagnoses. Once again, Frye generalizes the purpose of the DSM diagnostic criteria and fails to clarify that revision are a direct result of comprehensive investigation and examination of new or different findings within mental health.

Psychiatric diagnoses are categorized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th. Edition (DSM-V). The manual is published by the American

Education. The first phase of the Forward-Facing Trauma Therapy (FFTT) can usually be completed during a single session. However, the information shared with clients during this first phase will be reviewed and re-taught throughout the course of treatment. This is also true for readers who may wish to practice this process in a self-help model outside of traditional therapy formats.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is a reference book compiled by different experts to include psychiatrist, psychologists, and nurses. The DSM was created to provide a helpful guide to clinical practices and to serve as an educational tool for teaching psychopathology. The DSM classifies mental disorders in five areas called Axis’s. The areas of the DSM that will be discussed in more detail are anxiety, mood disorders, and dissociative or somatoform disorders. It will be interesting to compare the biological, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components of each disorder.

(2000). Indicative and factual manual of mental issue (fourth ed. , content update). Washington, DC. Bemak, Fred & Epp, Lawrence. (2002).

Establishing a reliable and widely accepted definition of mental disorder is significant because it allows health care professionals to diagnose patients on a consistent basis, without being in wild conflict with a diagnosis made by another health care professional. While, clinicians may differ in their diagnoses, the differences are less grandiose if their conclusions are based off of the same criteria. Therefore, the definition of mental disorder must be broad enough to accommodate a wide variety of disorders and their symptoms, yet specific enough to the focus of an unhealthy mental situation that any mundane or momentary emotion does not qualify as a disorder. Based upon this framework, the DSM-IV definition of ‘mental disorder’ is adequate

435). The openness of this definition distances itself from the essentialist idea of disorders having a singular cause. Furthermore, it researches symptoms’ clustering in ways that resemble a hierarchical model and explores the interconnectivity of mental disorders. This exploration of interconnectivity provokes investigation into “the full range of variation ‘in disorders and behavior “from normal to abnormal.” (Cuthbert & Insel, 2003, p.5). The RDoC also introduces increased focus onto biological components constructing mental disorders; in this way, it aspires towards empirical validity while continuing to focus on individual manifestations of mental disorders and the biological causes of the differences between the manifestations (Krueger & Deyoung, 2016). However, although this individualistic approach embodies a practical approach to finding a treatment and introduces the opportunity for precision medicine, it does make a difficult standard for making the diagnoses themselves. The RDoC also has limitations in that: it’s not a falsifiable system, it focuses too much on convergent validity, and it may focus too much on the biological markers of a mental disorder (Lilienfeld & Treadway, 2016). For this reason, RDoC has its best use in research or as a supplementary resource to identifying a disorder.