Major Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

This paper will define the Major Diagnostic and statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM IV-TR).  Give the categories of anxiety, moodaffective and dissociativesomatoform disorders.  Also the paper means to examine various classification of  the said disorders.

Major Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
The Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorder is a reference guide intended for the use of mental health professionals such as psychiatrics, psychologists, physicians in clinical practice. This manual is also a guide for researchers and other clinical staff of different orientations and specializations as well as medical and nursing students. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is another standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health professionals. It is intended to be applicable in a wide array of contexts and used by clinicians and researchers of many different orientations e.g. biological, psychodynamic, cognitive, behavioural, interpersonal, familysystems (WHO). However, since this is a manual and guide for medical use and standards, revisions must be made every so often.  The revised edition of this manual will be available to us by 2012.  The primary goal ofDSM-IV-TRwas to maintain the currency of theDSM-IVtext, which reflected the empirical literature up to 1992. Thus, most of the major changes in DSM-IV-TRwere confined to the descriptive text. Changes were made to a handful of criteria sets in order to correct errors identified inDSM-IV. In addition, some of the diagnostic codes were changed to reflect updates to theInternational Classification of Diseases, Ninth Edition, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) coding system adopted by the U.S. government (American Psychiatric Association).

The multi-Axial System
The third edition introduced a system of 5 axes to assess all facets of a patients mental health. This structure is intended to provide a full representation of the disorders.  The multi-axial anticipated to promote the application of the biopsychosocial model to clinical, educational and research settings.

The third edition ofDSM, orDSM-III, which was published in 1980, introduced a system of five axes or dimensions for assessing all aspects of a patients mental and emotional health. The multi-axial system is designed to provide a more comprehensive picture of complex or concurrent mental disorders. According to theDSM-IVTR,the system is also intended to promote the application of the biopsychosocial model in clinical, educational and research settings. The reference to thebiopsychosocial modelis significant, because it indicates that theDSM-IV-TRdoes not reflect the view of any specific school or tradition within psychiatry regarding the cause or origin (also known as etiology) of mental disorders (Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders).

A psychiatrist named George Engel  was the first to propose the biopsychosocial approach in 1977.  The DSM-IV-TR is clear about the manuals  intention to be used by clinicians and researchers of all fields in medicine. The biopsychosocial approach was originally proposed by a HYPERLINK httpwww.minddisorders.comOb-PsPsychiatrist.html psychiatristnamed George Engel in 1977 as a way around the disputes between psychoanalytically and biologically oriented psychiatrists that were splitting the field in the 1970s. The introduction toDSM-IV-TRis quite explicit about the manuals intention to be applicable in a wide variety of contexts and used by clinicians and researchers of many different orientations e.g., biological, psychodynamic, cognitive, behavioral, inter-personal, familysystems (Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders). 

Five Diagnostic Axes
Axis I Clinical disorders such as anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and schizophrenia.
Axis II Personality disorder and mental retardation.
Axis IIIGeneral medical conditions like diseases and disorders that are linked psychologically to mental disorder
Axis IVPsychosocial and environmental problems.
Axis VGlobal functioning. This measures the maturity and stability of relationships in a family or as a couple.
Anxiety

As human beings, stress and fear are our fuel to achieve more or work harder.  The fear of losing financial freedom or stability enables us to earn more.  Wanting to do more and do better is human nature based on our fear. Fear and stress reactions are essential for human survival. They enable people to pursue important goals and to respond appropriately to danger. In a healthy individual, the stress response (fight, fright, or flight) is provoked by a genuine threat or challenge and is used as a spur for appropriate action (University of Maryland).

According to the Maryland University Medical Center, anxiety disorders have been classified according to the severity and duration of their symptoms and specific behavioral characteristics. Categories include

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), which is long lasting and low-grade but the most common anxiety disorder.  Although it is the most common, it gets worse with s tress combined.
Panic disorder, which has more dramatic symptoms because of its timely attacks.
Phobias, which are irrational fear associated with an object or situation.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), can disrupt normal functioning of an individual. 
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a  constant emotional reaction to a situation, scenario or event

Separation anxiety disorder (which is almost always seen in children)

Mood Disorders
Depression and bipolar disorder are the two most common mood disorder.  Bipolar disorder are known to be genetic that normally manifests in the mid-twenties and prolongs throughout their lives.  Though genetically obtained, there are treatments for these kind of disorder.  However, failure to undergo treatment may cause  a person to go through life with difficulty because of the devastating events in the persons life such as marital break-up, substance abuse and worse, even suicide.

There are a lot of things and symptom to look out for when talking about bipolar disorder.  These are a few of them lack of sleep increased energy racing thoughts feelings of invulnerability poor judgment heightened sex drive and denial that anything is wrong.  Treatment for bipolar may be through group sessions to give emotional support or medication and psychotherapy.

Depression
The term Depression is used among individuals and is a common word used to express severe emotional sadness, dismay or disappointment.  Medically, this is true but it is called depression when the emotions extends to a number of weeks without any improvement. According to the  National Mental Health Information Center, four or more of the previous symptoms have been present continually, or most of the time, for more than 2 weeks. The term clinical depression merely means the episode of depression is serious enough to require treatment. Major depression is marked by far more severe symptoms, such as literally being unable to drag oneself out of bed. Another form of depression, known as seasonal affective disorder, is associated with seasonal changes in the amount of available daylight.Somatoform

People seek medical assistance when they feel pain, or feeling something ill in their bodies.  Somatoform is a pain related disorder, that the person feels so much pain that it already impairs him or her to function normally.  Somatoform is a chronic pain disorder that can go on for a long period of time.

Although there are treatment for this kind of disorder, convincing one to go for treatment may be hard to do, but there are alternatives to help the person.  One may offer a  person suffering from somatoform pain medication, physical therapy and. Massage,

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