Читать книгу Introduction to Abnormal Child and Adolescent Psychology - Robert Weis - Страница 35

In the United States, most mental health professionals use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) to diagnose mental health problems in children and adults (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The DSM-5 definition of a mental disorder reflects Wakefield’s notion of harmful dysfunction and emphasizes the role of disability and distress in differentiating normal and abnormal behavior:

A mental disorder is a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning. Mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress or disability in social, occupational, or other important activities. An expectable or culturally approved response to a common stressor or loss, such as the death of a loved one, is not a mental disorder. Socially deviant behavior (e.g., political, religious, sexual) and conflicts that are primarily between the individual and society are not mental disorders unless the deviance or conflict results from a dysfunction in the individual, as described above. (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 20)

It is worth noting that DSM-5 describes people with mental disorders as “usually” experiencing significant disability or distress—they may not always show both characteristics. As we have seen, some youths experience tremendous emotional pain, but they do not show marked impairment in their social or academic functioning. Other youths drop out of school, abuse alcohol and other drugs, and/or engage in criminal behavior but do not report anxiety, depression, or low self-esteem. Although most youths with mental health problems experience both distress and impairment, only one feature is required for most DSM-5 diagnoses.