tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772182113499451603.post2687038594035268324..comments2024-03-27T10:50:53.692-05:00Comments on Real Psychiatry: Pattern Matching in Psychiatric DiagnosisGeorge Dawson, MD, DFAPAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03474899831557543486noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7772182113499451603.post-67584748260054949202013-08-03T10:54:05.154-05:002013-08-03T10:54:05.154-05:00
Well said. Making a diagnosis is not the same as ...<br />Well said. Making a diagnosis is not the same as defining a disorder. And the DSM manuals don’t really help in the formulation of diagnoses, much less differential diagnoses, by experienced clinicians. At most, the DSM manuals serve to document that the diagnoses made by clinicians under conditions of clinical uncertainty and complexity conform to a minimum symptom profile.<br /><br />And as for rating scales, Max Hamilton in 1960 emphasized that the primary function of scales is to track severity of a disorder once the diagnosis has been made. Nowadays we see NIMH wasting our money on foolish techno-babble projects like computerized adaptive testing where it is claimed depression can be diagnosed by just a few questions. I have critiqued this approach as contributing extra burden without clinical gain for making the diagnosis. See PubMed ID #23824048.<br />http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23824048 <br />Bernard Carrollhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16203083806436919715noreply@blogger.com