The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Diagnosis And Classification System

Before we can begin to determine the advantages and disadvantages of diagnosis, we must first understand what is needed to make a diagnosis. In order to make the diagnosis, several elements are taken into consideration. The information gained from the clinical interview, any tests and the clinician’s observations of the individual are compiled together to determine whether the individual’s psychological symptoms match a known disorder (Comer, 2014). In addition, clinicians should take into consideration an individual’s culture. Focusing on whether or not the individual is an immigrant, cultural factors, and the individual’s acculturation into the dominant culture (Comer, 2014). The following paragraphs will address the possible advantages …show more content…
In 1883 Emil Kraepelin developed this widely-used classification system and it has been continuously improved upon until the most current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or the DSM-V (Comer, 2014). Each entry in the DSM-V offers criteria and descriptive text that assist the clinicians in their diagnoses. Another advantage of diagnosis and classification is that the DSM-V ranks high in terms of reliability and validity. To ensure high reliability the framers of the DSM-V “gathered input from a wide range of experienced clinicians and researchers” (Comer, 2014, p. 86). The strong validity of the DSM-V stems from the framers consulting other clinicians to help ascertain the predictive validity of this classification system meaning that the use of the diagnostic categories can predict how the psychological problems may progress and how they will respond to treatment (Comer, 2014). Lastly, without a proper diagnosis, the individual may not receive the appropriate treatment for his or her …show more content…
The disadvantages are the varying opinions of clinicians on individuals with the same or similar symptoms, the stigma associated with labeling, and the potential for a clinician’s biases of individuals with multicultural needs. The advantages are that the DSM is a widely-used classification system that ranks high in terms of reliability and validity, the “Stop the Stigma” campaign continuously gains momentum, and the importance of multicultural education grows and the DSM-V includes information on multicultural implications for certain diagnoses. Last but not least, without a diagnosis or classification a proper treatment regimen cannot be established. Comer (2014) explains that studies on treatment have concluded that individuals with similar symptoms fair better than no treatment at all and the differences between various therapeutic measures are not vast. Therefore, based on the information gathered my position regarding the advantages and disadvantages of the current diagnostic and classification system is that the advantages outweigh the