Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Issues of classification
& diagnosis
- RELIABILITY
- extent to which psychiatrists
agree on same diagnoses when
independently assessing patients.
- UK uses
DSM
others
use ICD
- both have different criteria e.g.
DSM recognises 5 sub types &
ICD recognises 7
- diagnosis not
consistent between
different countries,
people with same
symptoms may be
diagnosed normal
in one part &
schizophrenic in
another.
- validity issues: SZ
not understood well
enough for
accurate diagnosis
- Copeland: description patient.
69% US clinicians diagnosed
them with SZ & 2% in UK.
- differences in what people expect
symptoms to be like, creating issues in
diagnosis as behaviour in one country
is seen as normal in the context of that
culture but a symptom in another.
- Consequences for patients:
stigmatised & mistreated
raising ethical concerns.
- label will stay with
them & affect
employment, social
interaction & how they
are perceived as
others are usually
suspicious of such
labels due to extreme
media interpretations
of SZ's as violent &
insane
- no physical cause that
can be conclusively
measured & patients
must self report
symptoms, not always
accurately, maybe due
to their disorder,
hindering reliability.
- objective
diagnosis
is difficult.
- interpretation of symptoms
is subjective, individual's
ability in diagnosis is very
important but may vary
between health
professionals.
- skill, experience &
knowledge further affect
reliable diagnosis
- Whaley: inter-rater reliability between
health professionals as low as 0.11.
Shows when independently assessing
patients, diagnosis was rarely
consistent between them meaning
DSM is unreliable in accurately &
consistently diagnosing SZ.
- states only one
symptoms
required if
delusions are
'bizzare'
- Study: 50 psychiatrists asked
to distinguish between bizzare &
non-bizzare. Only 0.40
inter-rater reliability
correlations. Lacks sufficient
reliability to distinguish between
SZ & non-SZ symptoms.
- Rosanhan: gives further
support for unreliability.
normal people went to
psychiatric hospitals saying
they heard voices. all
diagnosed as SZ. During
their stay no staff
recognised they were
actually normal,
highlighting unreliability.
- VALIDITY
- if practitioners can't
conclusively agree
who has SZ or not,
raises question of
what it actually is &
whether
understanding is
sufficient.
- comprehensive review of
symptoms, causes & outcomes
of SZ concluded SZ was not
useful scientific theory.
- Schneider developed first rank symptoms e.g. delusions
of control, thought broadcast & auditory hallucinations
which would distinguish SZ from other disorders.
- believed would make diagnosis more valid & reliable.
But overlap with disorders like depression & bipolar.
- pointed out that
people with
dissociative
identity disorder
actually have more
SZ symptoms than
diagnosed SZ's.
- comorbidity issues as
symptoms may fit in with
SZ but may be due to
other illnesses resembling
it, making diagnosis
unreliable & treatment
difficult.
- no evidence to
suggest SZ's
share same
outcomes.
- outcomes vary from 20% recovering to
normal functioning, 10% achieving
lasting improvement, 30% showing
improvement with relapses.
- diagnosis
shows little
predictive
validity as
some people
recover while
others don't.