Understanding Mental Health: Diagnostic Criteria and Disorders

Diagnostic Criteria

Psychopathology is defined through several key frameworks:

• Statistical Criteria: Psychological variables are normally distributed; thoughts, behaviors, or emotions deviating from the norm are considered pathological.
• Biological Criterion: While biological processes are vital to human behavior, they are significantly influenced by psychosocial and environmental factors.
• Social Approach: Psychopathology is a social construction or convention established within a specific time and culture; what is considered normal in one culture may be abnormal in another.
• Personal/Subjective Criteria: Each individual is the primary judge of their own disability or personal suffering regarding their ability to successfully navigate life.

Understanding Depression

Depression is a deep malaise affecting the body, thoughts, and mood. It is not a passing state of sadness, a personal weakness, or an attitude that can be changed at will. Symptoms include:

• Physical: Insomnia, loss of appetite, and fatigue.
• Mood: Sadness, irritability, and feelings of impotence.
• Cognitive: Decreased attention and concentration.

Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety is a general feeling and a signal that we anticipate danger or pain, or that we struggle to understand our reality or self-perception. Anxiety disorders include:

• Phobias: Irrational fear of specific situations.
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Persistent, unavoidable thoughts or behaviors.
• Post-Traumatic Stress: Reactions following a violent episode.
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

Phobias

A phobia is an excessive, persistent, irrational, and disproportionate fear provoked by specific objects, animals, people, or situations.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessions are involuntary, intrusive thoughts, ideas, or memories considered repugnant or meaningless. Compulsions are repetitive, stereotyped behaviors performed in response to an obsession, aimed at preventing a future event.

Schizophrenic Disorders

Schizophrenia is a complex condition characterized by the fragmentation of cognitive and affective processes.

Features

• Disturbed perceptions
• Disorganized thinking
• Inappropriate emotions and behavior
• Social withdrawal

Types

• Paranoid: Delusions of persecution or grandeur.
• Catatonic: Extreme negativism.
• Disorganized: Childlike behavior.
• Residual: Eccentric behavior or illogical thinking.

Eating Disorders

• Anorexia Nervosa: An eating disorder driven by an intense fear of gaining weight.
• Bulimia Nervosa: Characterized by episodes of overeating followed by purging behaviors.