Studied by 3 people
abnormal psychology
study of atypical or abnormal behaviour, thoughts, or emotions that deviate from culturally accepted norms. focuses on identifying, diagnosing an treating mental health disorders. abnormal psychology encompasses a wide range of mental health conditions, including mood disorders, anxiety and personality disorders. various research methods are used to assess and diagnose abnormal behaviour e.g. interviews, psychological assessments and observational methods
classification systems
frameworks used to categorise and organise information based on criteria and certain characteristics. used to identify and diagnose mental health conditions with diagnostic criteria that help clinicians make accurate and consistent diagnoses
DSM IV
diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders published in 1994. changes to previous editions by introducing multi-axial system assessing patients clinical presentation and providing comprehensive diagnoses. standardised multi axial format for making diagnosis increased reliability.
DSM 5
published in 2013 and is the most updated version which incorporates cultural and gender considerations and places greater emphasis on the importance of clinical judgement in making a diagnosis. assesses the severity and cross cutting symptoms to improve diagnosis and treatment planning
ICD 11
published in 2018 and provides standardised language for communicating and recording health info. used worldwide as a standard tool for epidemiology and clinical purposes and health management
medicalisation
process by which human problems or conditions are defined and treated as medical conditions requiring intervention. DSM 5 includes grief as a mental disorder but it is actual a normal human experience
MDD
a mental health health disorder characterised by feelings of sadness, hopelessness and a loss of interest in activities that were once enjoyable. symptoms include weight changes, fatigue, insomnia and difficulty concentrating. caused by a variety of genetic and environmental factors
clinical bias in diagnoses
impact the prevalence rates of disorders by affecting accuracy of diagnosis. clinicians may hold beliefs and biases that can influence their diagnostic decisions
reliability of diagnosis
consistency and stability of diagnosis made by different clinicians or the same clinician at different times. diagnosis is reliable when it can be replicated multiple times using the same diagnostic criteria
validity of diagnosis
refers to the extent to which a diagnosis accurately reflects the true condition of the patient
test-retest reliability
consistency of measurement across time. if a measure is administered to the same individual on two different occasions and the degree to which scores remain stable/consistent reflects the reliability
inter-rater reliability
extent to which different raters or clinicians obtain consistent results when using the same diagnostic criteria to assess the same patient.
medical model of abnormality
based on the assumption that mental disorders are a result of physical or biological problems that can be diagnosed, treated and cured in the same way that physical illnesses can. this model sees mental disorders as physical illnesses or diseases that require medical intervention such as medication or psychotherapy. model emphasises the understanding and treating of mental illness
statistical infrequency model
suggests that behaviours and traits that are rare or unusual are considered abnormal or outside of the range of a population. doesn’t take into account cultural or contextual factors that may affect what is considered normal or abnormal
somatization
phenomenon where individuals experiencing psychological distress, manifest physical symptoms which may be genuine but the underlying cause is a psychological issue rather than a physical one. symptoms are similar to physical disorders so it’s hard to recognise. recognizing somatisation is important for accurate diagnoses.
