Psy 270 Appendix G
University of Phoenix 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 patients it can be different to gather all the criteria needed during observations. Sitting face to face with a patient and getting their view on the subject is not the same thing as experiencing or watching the problem unfold first hand as something you observe outside of a study room. Because we are not able to see the problem as it unfolds first hand we are not able to receive all the accurate information, and when a client recounts the events he or she could always leave something out that would be important in the diagnoses. These cases can lead to misdiagnosing and possible worsening of the problem. An example would be how difficult it is to diagnose autism and how many children have been misdiagnoses for this very reason.
2. Personality disorders can be similar to each other. Personality disorders can be very similar to each other with their symptoms making it hard to properly diagnose personality disorders in a onetime face to face discussion. Misdiagnoses are even more likely to occur is the information is not coming from the patient first hand and is instead coming from a parent and another third party
3. People with different personalities can be given the same diagnosis People with different personalities can be given the same diagnosis if it is a general diagnoses. This occurs because individuals with differing personalities can have the same symptoms but handle them differently because they
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 patients it can be different to gather all the criteria needed during observations. Sitting face to face with a patient and getting their view on the subject is not the same thing as experiencing or watching the problem unfold first hand as something you observe outside of a study room. Because we are not able to see the problem as it unfolds first hand we are not able to receive all the accurate information, and when a client recounts the events he or she could always leave something out that would be important in the diagnoses. These cases can lead to misdiagnosing and possible worsening of the problem. An example would be how difficult it is to diagnose autism and how many children have been misdiagnoses for this very reason.
2. Personality disorders can be similar to each other. Personality disorders can be very similar to each other with their symptoms making it hard to properly diagnose personality disorders in a onetime face to face discussion. Misdiagnoses are even more likely to occur is the information is not coming from the patient first hand and is instead coming from a parent and another third party
3. People with different personalities can be given the same diagnosis People with different personalities can be given the same diagnosis if it is a general diagnoses. This occurs because individuals with differing personalities can have the same symptoms but handle them differently because they