The DSM-IV is an important tool for clinicians. It provides a standard for diagnoses to be standardized across psychology; however, the DSM-IV is not as precise for diagnosing personality disorders as some psychologists would like.

Give an example of each of the following problems identified in your readings and explain how these problems could negatively affect a diagnosis.

1) Some criteria used for reaching a diagnosis cannot be observed directly.

A patient analysis could take place in most cases so that a clinician could gain information about the patient’s symptoms that may be immediately observable in the clinical setting. If this information is not gathered by the clinician a misdiagnosis could be made. Subjective data may include information about the patient’s personality, behaviors or a patient’s reaction to information that cannot be directly from the patient due their inability or reluctance to speak with clinician directly. As an example, if a patient who did not present personality disorders in fear might be diagnosed as having a social phobia. A patient not being truthful has very serious consequences and one could not get the appropriate treatment needed.

2) Personality disorders can be similar to each other.

There are several symptoms that overlap between different disorders in DSM listings. A clinician’s personal observation could misdiagnosis between one of these two disorders if the clinician relies only on information gathered in a clinical setting. Disorders such as obsessive-compulsive, anxiety, and personality disorder have many symptoms that are alike. If this was the case a clinician could misdiagnosis and treats the patient incorrectly giving improper medication and the wrong types of therapy.

3) People with different personalities can be given the same diagnosis

The DSM-IV could be interpreted as