Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

534 CHAPTER 13 Psychological Disorderssocial phobia, were not added until later editions. And some behavior patterns thatwere categorized as “disorders” in early editions, such as homosexuality, have beendropped from later editions because they are no longer considered to be psychologicaldisorders.It’s important to understand that DSM-IV-TR was not written by a single person oreven a small group of experts. Rather, DSM-IV-TR represents the consensus of a widerange of mental health professionals representing many different organizations and perspectives.In developing DSM-IV-TR, teams of mental health professionals conductedextensive reviews of the research findings for each category of mental disorder. Morethan 1,000 mental health experts, mostly psychiatrists and clinical psychologists, participatedin the development of DSM-IV-TR. More than 60 professional organizations,including the American Psychological Association and the Association of PsychologicalScience, reviewed early drafts of DSM-IV-TR. Despite these efforts, the Diagnostic andStatistical Manual of Mental Disorders has many critics (e.g., Achenbach, 2009; Maser& others, 2009). More specifically, DSM-IV-TR has been criticized for:• including some experiences that are too “normal” to be considered disorders,such as excessive shyness (Langenbucher & Nathan, 2006)• using arbitrary cutoffs to draw the line between people with and without a particulardisorder (Barlow & Durand, 2005)• gender bias (Caplan & Cosgrove, 2004)• insufficient sensitivity to cultural diversity (Eriksen & Kress, 2005)Clinicians and researchers are currently working on the DSM-V, which is scheduledto be published in 2012 (Regier & others, 2009). For now, DSM-IV-TR is stillthe most comprehensive and authoritative set of guidelines available for diagnosingpsychological disorders. Thus, we’ll refer to it often in this chapter.The mentally ill are not some distinctset of “them” out there who arecompletely different from “us” sanepeople. Instead, the vast majority of ushave been touched by some form ofmental illness at some time in our liveseither through personal experience orthrough the illness of a close loved one.RONALD C. KESSLER (2003A)How Prevalent Are PsychologicalDisorders? Psychological disorders are farmore common than most people think.According to the National ComorbiditySurvey Replication (NCS-R), about 1 in 4American adults has experienced thesymptoms of some type of psychologicaldisorder during the previous year. However,most people who experience suchsymptoms do not receive treatment (Wang& others, 2005).The Prevalence of Psychological DisordersA 50–50 Chance?Just how common are psychological disorders? To investigate that question, researcherRonald C. Kessler and his colleagues (2005a, 2005b) conducted a nationally representativesurvey of more than 9,000 Americans, ages 18 and older. Called the National ComorbiditySurvey Replication (NCS-R), the survey involved more than two years offace-to-face interviews throughout the country. Participants were asked if they had experiencedspecific symptoms of psychological disorders (a) during the previous 12months and (b) at any point in their lives. They were also asked about possible risk factorsassociated with mental disorders, such as substance use.The NCS-R results reconfirmedmany of the findings of previous nationalsurveys, including the findingthat psychological disorders are muchmore prevalent than many people believe(Kessler & others, 2005c).Specifically, the NCS-R found that 1out of 4 respondents (26 percent) reportedexperiencing the symptoms ofa psychological disorder during theprevious year (Kessler & others,2005b). The NCS-R and other surveyslike it also reveal a high degree ofcomorbidity, which means that peoplediagnosed with one disorder are alsofrequently diagnosed with anotherdisorder as well.