There are pages of resources all over my office. I have a list of welfare offices, food programs, gambling addiction services, low cost dentists, landlords who accept sex offenders, etc. It’s everything my clients have needed in the past and will probably find useful in the future.
One important resource I use is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, otherwise known as the DSM. It’s a classification system of mental disorders. Psychiatric diagnoses are organized into five levels, or axes. The axes are as follows:
One important resource I use is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, otherwise known as the DSM. It’s a classification system of mental disorders. Psychiatric diagnoses are organized into five levels, or axes. The axes are as follows:
- Axis I: Clinical disorders
- e.g. depression, anxiety, anorexia, ADHD, autism
- Axis II: Personality disorders and mental retardation
- e.g. obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, borderline personality disorder
- Axis III: General medical conditions
- e.g. heart condition, diabetes
- Axis IV: Psychosocial and environmental problems
- housing, education, economic problems
- Axis V: Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF)
- 0-100 scale rating the psychological, social and occupational functioning of adults
(from DSM-IV-TR)
Even though I don’t diagnose the clients, understanding their diagnosis is important to understanding them. My patients’ most common diagnoses are on Axes I and II: schizophrenia, bipolar and depression.
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