Classification of
Psychological Disorders
The Medical Model * Proposes that it is useful to think of abnormal behavior as a disease * Brings improvement to the treatment process * Patients are viewed with more sympathy * Less ostracized & feared
Criteria
Deviance- Behavior not accepted by society Maladaptive Behavior- Impairment of every- day adaptive behavior
Personal Distress- Depression, anxiety or feelings of hopelessness
Psycho diagnosis
Classification of Disorders
1952 – APA unveils the DSM (Diagnostic & Statistical Manual)
1980 – DSM III introduces multiaxial system of classification
1994 – DSM – IV (current version) released
Identifies 3 times as many disorders as the 1st edition
DSM 5 - will be released in May 2013

Major Changes- * Mental Retardation = Intellectual disability * Substance-Abuse = Addiction & Related Disorders * Behavior Addictions – gambling, Internet (maybe) * Aspergers’s is officially added to Autism Spectrum * Addition of Hypersexual Disorder, Binge-Eating Disorder, Hoarding Disorder & PMDD
Dimensional Assessments

Multiaxial System of Classification
Diagnosis takes place on Axis I & II ONLY!
Axis I – Clinical Syndromes * Infancy, Childhood & Adolescence Disorders * Organic Mental Disorders * Substance-Related Disorders * Schizophrenia & other psychotic disorders * Mood Disorders * Anxiety Disorders * Somatoform Disorders * Dissociative Disorders * Sexual & Gender-Identity Disorders * Eating Disorders
Axis II - Personality Disorders & Mental Retardation * life-long problems accompanied by considerable social stigma * suffered by people who often fail to adapt well to society
Axis III – General Medical Conditions * Is for reporting current general medical conditions that are potentially relevant to the understanding or management of the individual's mental disorder.
Axis IV – Psychosocial & Environmental Problems * for reporting psychosocial and environmental problems that may affect the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of mental disorders * A psychosocial, an environmental difficulty or deficiency, a familial or other interpersonal stress, an inadequacy of social support or personal resources
Axis V- Global Assessment of Functioning Scale * reporting the clinician’s judgment of the individual’s overall level of functioning.- information is useful in planning treatment and measuring its impact, and in predicting outcome * Scores range from 1 (persistent danger of severely hurting self or others) to 100 (superior functioning in a wide range of activities).
Other Important Information
Epidemiology
* The study of the distribution and patterns of health-events, health-characteristics and their causes or influences in well-defined populations.
Prevalence
* The breakdown & percentage of a disease/disorder within a population * Gender * Age * Ethnicity * Geographic borders
Treatment of Psychological Disorders
Types of Therapy
There are 3 Main Types of Therapies:
Insight Therapies- Psychoanalysis * Recovery of unconscious conflicts & motives * Free Association * patients are invited to relate whatever comes into their minds during the analytic session, and not to censor their thoughts * Dream Analysis * the process of explaining the meaning of the way the unconscious thoughts and emotions are processed in the mind during sleep * Interpretation * Patient talks – therapist listens & interprets

* Rorschach Inkblot Test- subjects' perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed & interpreted
Dangers of Psychoanalysis * Resistance- Occurs when patients block memories from conscious memory * Transference- unconscious redirection of feelings from one person to