Topic 7 - Diagnosis and Psychological Case Formulation

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the distinctions between psychiatric diagnosis and psychological case formulation, the types of stigma, the history and structure of the DSM, and key classification strategies.

Psychiatric Diagnosis

An assessment and intervention approach guided by categorical classification systems like the DSM-5, where a assigned diagnostic label primarily guides treatment.

Psychological Case Formulation

A detailed individual analysis of a person and their presenting problems used to generate hypotheses about the cause and maintenance of those problems.

Turkat (1990)

Argued that classification systems should not be rejected because they allow for precise communication and provide a taxonomic system useful for hypothesis generation.

The 5 Ps

A general approach to case formulation that covers five key areas and can be specific to the problem or the type of therapy used.

Public Stigma

Negative or discriminatory attitudes that others have about mental illness, involving stereotypes such as being dangerous or incompetent.

Self Stigma

Negative attitudes and internalized shame that people with mental illness have about their own condition, which can lead to lowered self-esteem and self-efficacy.

Institutional Stigma

Systemic policies of government and private organizations that limit opportunities for people with mental illness, such as lower funding for research or fewer health services.

Psychopathology

The in-depth study of mental health problems, which is not limited only to diagnostic criteria.

Mental Disorder

A syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior reflecting a dysfunction in psychological, biological, or developmental processes.

Classification

The effort to construct groups or categories and assign people to them based on shared attributes or relations.

Idiographic Strategy

An approach focused on determining what is unique about an individual's personality, cultural background, or circumstances.

Nomothetic Strategy

A strategy used to identify specific psychological disorders and make a diagnosis based on shared symptoms.

ICD

The International Classification of Diseases, produced by the WHO, which serves as the international standard for diagnosis and is commonly used in Europe.

DSM-5

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (2013), which uses an empirically grounded, prototypic approach to classification and removed the previous axial system.

DSM III (1980)

The edition that revolutionized classification by relying on specific symptoms to improve reliability and validity.

Categorical Information

Information in a diagnosis referring to the specific disorder name, such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder or Major Depressive Disorder.

Dimensional Information

Assessment data regarding the severity of a client's disorder, usually involving rating scales.

Comorbidity

The presence of two or more disorders occurring in the same person.

DSM-5-TR

The text revision of the DSM-5 released in 2022, which included updates such as the addition of Prolonged Grief Disorder and the impact of racism on mental disorders.

Self-fulfilling Prophecy

A phenomenon where individuals may take on a "sick role" to correspond with a diagnostic label they have been given.