Question

Explain how people can use classification systems to diagnose abnormal behavior with reference to the ways in which these systems can help or hinder diagnoses. Describe two ways in which a classification system could help or hinder the diagnosis of a patient.

Answer 1

• DSM (Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders) and  the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD),are two main classification systems that are used to determine abonormal behaviour.
• The two systems can be used to share information about the prevalences and characteristics of particular disorders. The DSM has been widely adopted by mental health professionals.
• The DSM system, like the medical model, treats abnormal behaviors as signs or symptoms of underlying disorders or pathologies. However, the DSM does not assume that abnormal behaviors necessarily reflect biological causes or defects. It recognizes that the causes of most mental disorders remain uncertain.
• The diagnostic manual can be used to classify abnormal behaviours into mental disorders. It helps people to classify disorders rather than individuals.Rather than classifying someone as a schizophrenic or a depressive, the system is used to refer to an individual with schizophrenia or a person with major depression as classifying someone with a psychological disorder can have a stigma attached to it in the society unfortunately.
• It provides a designation of specific diagnostic criteria.The DSM permits the individual to match a client’s complaints and associated features with specific standards to see which diagnosis best fits the case. For example, auditory hallucinations (“hearing voices”) and delusions (fixed, but false beliefs, such as thinking that other people are devils) are characteristic symptoms of schizophrenia.
• People can also use the multimultiaxial system that provides a comprehensive picture of clients by integrating information concerning abnormal behaviors, medical conditions that affect abnormal behaviors, psychosocial and environmental problems that may be stressful to the individual.
• The multiple diagnosis system helps the clinician to provide detailed diagnosis of the current problems being faced by the client.
• Therefore,this system is detailed enough to provide different diagnoses for the abnormal behaviour.
• But it is only descriptive in nature and not explanatory.It describes the diagnostic features or symptoms of abnormal behaviors; it does not attempt to explain their origins or adopt any particular theoretical framework.
• Eventhough it is useful in matching person's behavioural characteristics with the criterias mentioned in the manual to determine the diagnosis but since it relies heavily on medical model it proves to be a hindrance in providing appropiate diagnosis.
• In the DSM system, problem behaviors are viewed as symptoms of underlying mental disorders in much the same way that physical symptoms are signs of underlying physical disorders. Some people feel that behavior, abnormal or normal, is too complex and meaningful to be treated as merely symptomatic. They assert that the medical model focuses too much on what may happen within the individual and not enough on external influences on behavior.
• Also eventhough this system is widely used,but it still proves to be hindrance in providing diagnosis since it focuses only on categorizing psychological disorders rather than describing people’s behavioral strengths and weaknesses. It also stigmatizes people in the society by putting them into categories of abnormal behaviour or labeling them with psychological diagnosis. Prejudice towards mentally unfit people is still very much prevalent in our society.