DSM-5 SUMMARIES ASSIGNMENT
DSM-5 Summaries Assignment #3
Najah Blassingame
Department of Counselor Education and Family Studies
CEFS546: Psychopathology
Liberty University
Author Note
Department of Counselor Education and Family Studies, Liberty University
I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Najah Blassingame
Email: nblasingame@liberty.edu
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DSM-5 SUMMARIES ASSIGNMENT2
“All of the following information was taken from the Diagnostic and Static Manual 5th Edition
(American Psychiatric Association, 2013) unless otherwise noted.”
Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders
Overview
The schizophrenia spectrum is defined by defects in one or more of the following five
areas: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking (speech), grossly disorganized or
abnormal motor behavior (catatonia), and negative symptoms. Delusions are fixed, false beliefs
in something that is not real or shared by others. Hallucinations are experiences that you see,
feel, hear, or smell something that do not exist. Disorganized thinking has effect on a person’s
speech such as switching topics, answering questions that may or may not make sense, and
language disorganization. Grossly disorganized or abnormal motor behavior can be shown is
various ways ranging from childlike “silliness” to unpredictable anxiety. Catatonia can also be
associated with these behaviors by showing a decrease in reactivity to the environment. Lastly,
negative symptoms can be described as poor functional outcomes in individuals with this
disorder. There are many types of disorders in this category, but they all have different and
some similar symptoms.
Disorders
The schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders are characterized by delusions
and hallucinations. The types of disorders in this category are delusional disorder, brief
psychotic disorder, schizophreniform disorder, schizophrenia, and schizoaffective disorder. The
delusional disorder consists of at least one month of delusions without other psychotic
symptoms. The brief psychotic disorder lasts more than one day and suspends for one month.
The schizophreniform
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disorder is classified by a symptomatic presentation equivalent to schizophrenia, but the only
difference is the duration, and it does not decline in a person’s functioning. Schizophrenia lasts
for about six months with at least one month of active-phase symptoms. The schizoaffective
disorder consists of a mood episode and the active-phase symptoms of schizophrenia occur
together. This disorder is also followed by at least two weeks of delusions or hallucinations with
out any protruding mood symptoms.
Risk and Prognostic Factors
The disorder I am interested in is schizophrenia because it is a disorder that can consist of
all five of the domains such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly
disorganized or abnormal motor behavior also known as catatonic behavior, and negative
symptoms. A person can experience two or more of these symptoms and at least one of them
must be delusions, hallucinations, or disorganized speech. This disorder can affect the level of
functioning in one or more areas such as work, interpersonal relations, or self-care. Some risk
and prognostic factors in this disorder can be environmental such as the incidence of
schizophrenia is higher for children growing up in an urban environment. Some minority ethnic
groups can be included also. The genetic and physiological factors can be determined from
pregnancy and birth complications. Some complications can be stress, infection, malnutrition, or
other medical conditions. Most people diagnosed with this disorder have no family history of
psychosis.
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Somatic Symptoms and Related Disorders
Overview
The somatic symptom disorder and other disorders is shown when an individual has a
focus of their physical symptoms like pain, headaches, and digestive symptoms such as
abdominal pain. This causes an individual to have major distress and problems with or without
problems functioning. An individual can have more than necessary thoughts, feelings and
different behaviors relating to the physical symptoms that are present. This disorder mainly
focuses on how an individual present and interpret their symptoms.
Disorders
Somatic symptoms are categorized by the prominent focus on somatic concerns and their
presentation in medical rather than mental health care settings. The disorders in this category are
somatic symptom disorder, illness anxiety disorder, conversion disorder (functional neurological
symptom disorder), psychological factors affecting other medical conditions, and factitious
disorder. The somatic disorder considers a useful method to diagnose individuals who have
considered the diagnosis of somatization disorder. Illness anxiety disorder is mostly encountered
in medical settings. This disorder can be diagnosed to an individual due to a high level of anxiety
about their health. The conversion disorder (functional neurological symptom disorder) is
diagnosed to an individual when there are neurological symptoms are found after appropriate
assessments are administered to the individual. Psychological factors affecting other medical
conditions happens when one or more psychological or behavioral factors affect a medical
condition by increasing the risk of death, suffering, or disability. Lastly, the factitious disorder is
diagnosed when an individual present somatic symptoms and medical disease conviction.
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Anxiety and depressive disorders may be associated with these disorders due to the symptoms
that are included.
Risk and Prognostic Factors
The disorder I am interested in is the illness anxiety disorder. This disorder involves a
preoccupation with having or acquiring a serious illness, a high level of anxiety about health,
performs excessive health-related behaviors and others. This disorder can cause a person to panic
and worry about their illness. The environmental factor of this disorder is sometimes the disorder
may be precipitated by a major life stress or a serious but ultimately gentle threat to the
individual’s health. Child abuse or serious childhood illness may cause this disorder to develop
in adulthood.
DSM-5 SUMMARIES ASSIGNMENT
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Association.
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