Discuss Issues Surrounding the Classification & Diagnosis of Schizophrenia ?
‘Discuss issues surrounding the classification and diagnosis of schizophrenia’ (24 marks)
An issue is that they are two manuals which are used to diagnose schizophrenia the DSM-IV manual and the ICD manual. Cooper et al found that people are twice as more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia in New York then in the UK this means the diagnostic manual for schizophrenia is unreliable. This is an issue because it can lead to misdiagnosis and people will be schizophrenic in a country and then not schizophrenic in another country this will mean that the wrong treatment will be prescribed to the patient which will then cause harm to them or make them develop another type of illness e.g. clozapine drug can lead to Parkinson’s Disease. This issue can be solved if one manual is used internationally this will also improve the inter rater reliability.
Another problem of the diagnosis of schizophrenia is co-morbidity this is when the symptoms of schizophrenia overlap with many other disorders, such as, depression and bipolar disorder. This is a problem because the patient may be misdiagnosed and given the wrong type of treatment which will not cure the symptoms they have and may cause another type of illness e.g. clozapine drug can lead to Parkinson’s disease. This can be solved by multiple diagnosis this will also improve the inter rater reliability you can also take several types of measurements e.g. measure the dopamine levels, observations and PET Scans before diagnosing someone as schizophrenic.
Another problem of the diagnosis of schizophrenia is that when someone is labelled as schizophrenic they can be discriminated as everyone can view they’re health record e.g. a person may not be given a job because they are labelled as schizophrenic. This is an issue because this will not cure schizophrenia and can lead to the self-fulfilling prophecy. This issue can be solved if the information is kept confidential and not disclosed to everyone. The media can also
An issue is that they are two manuals which are used to diagnose schizophrenia the DSM-IV manual and the ICD manual. Cooper et al found that people are twice as more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia in New York then in the UK this means the diagnostic manual for schizophrenia is unreliable. This is an issue because it can lead to misdiagnosis and people will be schizophrenic in a country and then not schizophrenic in another country this will mean that the wrong treatment will be prescribed to the patient which will then cause harm to them or make them develop another type of illness e.g. clozapine drug can lead to Parkinson’s Disease. This issue can be solved if one manual is used internationally this will also improve the inter rater reliability.
Another problem of the diagnosis of schizophrenia is co-morbidity this is when the symptoms of schizophrenia overlap with many other disorders, such as, depression and bipolar disorder. This is a problem because the patient may be misdiagnosed and given the wrong type of treatment which will not cure the symptoms they have and may cause another type of illness e.g. clozapine drug can lead to Parkinson’s disease. This can be solved by multiple diagnosis this will also improve the inter rater reliability you can also take several types of measurements e.g. measure the dopamine levels, observations and PET Scans before diagnosing someone as schizophrenic.
Another problem of the diagnosis of schizophrenia is that when someone is labelled as schizophrenic they can be discriminated as everyone can view they’re health record e.g. a person may not be given a job because they are labelled as schizophrenic. This is an issue because this will not cure schizophrenia and can lead to the self-fulfilling prophecy. This issue can be solved if the information is kept confidential and not disclosed to everyone. The media can also