Essay on'The problems assocaited with diagnosis of mental disorders'

Start off with the four different definitions of abnormality, and the strengths and limitations of each- statistical infrequency, deviation from social norms etc. and the four different approaches to perceived abnormalities e.g. anorexia-biological model does not consider cognitive implications, therefore we need to use a multiway perspective, such as the diathesis stress model. Look up the different classification systems for mental disorders-like DSM4 and the European version (can't remember what it's called-sorry!) Discuss how many disorders are culturally bound e.g. schizophrenia, anorexia etc. Also, how understudied differences between cultures are automatically seen as being a disorder (such as homosexuality). Individual differences are quite important here-just because someone meets the criteria of the classification system, does not mean they should be put in a generalised bracket of being abnormal etc.
Sorry, I'm very muchly hungover today so my memory is a little detiorated! Hope this gives you some starter points anyway. I would say the definitions and models of abnormality-evaluate (A01) and then evaluated against INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES (inc. culture etc.) (A02) are the main focus of this essay though.

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