How Doctors Diagnose Depression & Anxiety
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Diagnosis
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Social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists are the best individuals to diagnose mental disorders. There are specialized screening tests that they use to diagnosis depression and anxiety. The Beck Depression inventory and the Hamilton Rating Scale are some of the tests they could use. These also have a series of questions that help to identify ailments. Most health care professionals get their diagnosis from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM-IV-TR which is the fourth edition, published by the American Psychiatric Press. This book gives information on what age a disorder sets in, how common it is, how people are affected by it and the list of symptoms that are associated with that particular disorder. When a health care professional asks questions, it is to see if certain criteria for that disorder are met according to the DSM diagnosis guidelines. These help the professional to identify the signs in hopes to identify the origin of the issue so they can best be treated.
DSM Axis
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The DSM is standardized so many different professionals can identify the same diagnosis and treatment plans. The DSM requires that professionals take into account the mental, biological and social aspects to get the diagnosis. This is called the BioPsychoSocial approach and is divided into five sections, or axis. Axis I is the diagnosis section and the disorders in this section are assumed to be issues that have developed in adulthood. Axis II contains additional diagnosis that are chronic or developmental disorders, that originated, and been present, since earlier in life. Axis III contains personal physical condition information and anything medically significant that could be contributing to the ailment. Axis IV is the social and economic situation. These are the living conditions, work, relationships, etc. Axis V contains a single number between 0 and 100, the Global Assessment of Functioning, which is the doctor's opinion on how well the person is functioning in daily life. This number tells how serious the person is being affected by the ailment in daily life.
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Dual Diagnosis
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There can be two diagnoses in an axis. When there are two diagnoses in Axis I, it is called dual diagnosis. This is just to describe the individual condition more clearly and completely. Usually when there are two diagnoses, it is usually a mental disorder and a substance abuse issue as well. Usually this is because there is a substance that can be contributing the current mental disorder. Dual diagnosis is harder to smooth out because addictions are sometimes difficult to break or the person doesn't seek treatment. Treatment for dual diagnosis usually is based more on the mental aspect and the addiction part takes the back seat, although ignoring the addiction aspect will only hinder the progress of treatment.
Anxiety and Depression
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Some of the symptoms they look for in an anxiety diagnosis are feelings of restless or of being on edge, fatigue, concentration difficulties, irritability, muscle tension and sleep disturbances. For a depression diagnosis, they are looking for loss of interest or pleasure, changes in weight, changes in sleep patterns, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness, difficulty concentrating, thoughts of death or suicide, impairment of daily functioning and a lasting depressed mood.
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