Psychological Disorders
A psychological disorder is a clinically significant pattern of distress, disability, or increased risk, not a moral failing. Diagnosis considers duration, impairment, context, and culture. The exam tests the concept, classification systems, and major disorder categories.
Classification
DSM-5 and ICD-10/11 are major classifications. They are categorical aids, while many symptoms are dimensional. A diagnosis requires clinical judgement, not a checklist alone.
Major categories
- Anxiety disorders: generalised anxiety, panic, phobias.
- Obsessive–compulsive and related disorders: obsessions and compulsions (separate from anxiety in DSM-5, though older texts group them).
- Mood disorders: major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder.
- Schizophrenia spectrum: delusions, hallucinations, disorganised speech, negative symptoms.
- Somatoform and dissociative disorders.
- Personality disorders and substance-related disorders.
Worked example
A 22-year-old reports two weeks of low mood, loss of interest, insomnia, guilt, and poor concentration, with marked impairment. This pattern suggests a major depressive episode; duration and impairment matter. Normal grief or a brief reaction would not automatically meet the threshold, and medical or substance causes must be ruled out.
Traps
One symptom is not a disorder; do not label exam stress as depression. Avoid the myth that schizophrenia means “split personality”. Cultural context affects expression, and diagnosis is not name-calling.