Psychopathology Quiz

DSM-5 Definition of Mental Disorder

• The DSM-5 defines a mental disorder as 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.
• This dysfunction must not be merely an expectable and culturally sanctioned response to a particular event, such as the loss of a loved one.

Harmful Dysfunction Concept

• According to Wakefield’s harmful dysfunction concept, a key aspect of a mental disorder is that it involves harm or impairment that affects the individual’s well-being.
• This concept emphasizes that a mental disorder must involve some kind of harmful dysfunction, not just statistical deviation from norms.

Definition of Mental Disorder

• Having a statistically rare pattern of behavior or a pattern that differs from the norm is not enough to define a mental disorder.
• A characteristic of a mental disorder is that it involves a dysfunction in psychological, biological, or developmental processes that impairs the individual’s well-being.
• The definition of a mental disorder emphasizes the dysfunction or impairment of psychological, biological, or developmental processes.