Diagnosis: A Classical Perspective
Diagnosis.
There is a constant frustration expressed in this group about Diagnosis.
I belong to the classical school where you can only have one diagnosis. The best example I can give is with schizophrenia.
A person has schizophrenia, they have no plans for the future, lack motivation, not sleeping well at night, lost their appetite, lost all interests in life, life has no fun anymore, all that is ahead of them is a life time of mental illness.
This person has a diagnosis of Depression secondary to Schizophrenia. If you took away the Schizophrenia then the Depression possible would not exist.
As in the above example people having Schizophrenia can get very depressed and are/or should be monitored for any manifestation of that part of the illness.
There has been some talk about Social Anxiety Disorder or Asperger's Syndrome. Social Anxiety can be part of A.S. So the Diagnosis would be SA secondary to AS. Meaning that the Social Anxiety is a major feature of the AS. presentation in this person. Take away the AS and the SA probably would not exist.
An inability to concentrate under certain circumstances is part of AS and would be a useful clinical indicator of AS, not an indicator that you have AS and ADD.
I must emphasise here that I am not in America. Our Mental Health Services are
There is a constant frustration expressed in this group about Diagnosis.
I belong to the classical school where you can only have one diagnosis. The best example I can give is with schizophrenia.
A person has schizophrenia, they have no plans for the future, lack motivation, not sleeping well at night, lost their appetite, lost all interests in life, life has no fun anymore, all that is ahead of them is a life time of mental illness.
This person has a diagnosis of Depression secondary to Schizophrenia. If you took away the Schizophrenia then the Depression possible would not exist.
As in the above example people having Schizophrenia can get very depressed and are/or should be monitored for any manifestation of that part of the illness.
There has been some talk about Social Anxiety Disorder or Asperger's Syndrome. Social Anxiety can be part of A.S. So the Diagnosis would be SA secondary to AS. Meaning that the Social Anxiety is a major feature of the AS. presentation in this person. Take away the AS and the SA probably would not exist.
An inability to concentrate under certain circumstances is part of AS and would be a useful clinical indicator of AS, not an indicator that you have AS and ADD.
I must emphasise here that I am not in America. Our Mental Health Services are