Abnormal Psychology: Classification, Diagnosis, and Influences of Heredity and Environment on Schizophrenia and Depression

Abnormal Psychology 1
ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY
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Abnormal Psychology 2
Abnormal Psychology
In essence, mental illness such as depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder are
considered to be affecting close to 1 to about 5 adults in the United States as reported by the
National Alliance Mental Illness. Consequently, various aspects of these types of diseases remain
to be a great mystery although there has been huge progress made with the aim of understanding
such illness by researchers across the globe. Nonetheless, researchers, as well as clinicians, have
made significant strides in trying to treat mental illness around the world. Notably, this paper
proposes to discuss in detail the primary methods that are used in classifying or defining mental
illness. Moreover, the article will be discussing the influences of heredity and environment on
schizophrenia and depression. The primary diagnosis methods that are used by clinicians to
define abnormality include the Diagnostic, as well as Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM-5), used mainly in the USA and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) that
is used internationally. Primarily, this method provides clinicians, patients as well as researchers
with a structured approach particularly to the aspect of diagnosing mental health.
There are various ways in which abnormal psychology can be defined. For instance,
psychological abnormality can be defined through statistical infrequency which is a way of
defining abnormality where behaviour is perceived abnormal in case it is statistically uncommon
or not encountered frequently in the society. Illnesses such as depression are a common disorder
in the society. According to research, close to 48% individual in the USA experience
psychological disorder at some point of their lives (Aina, 2018, p. 203). On the other hand,
deviation from the norm can be used as an appropriate approach. In this approach, psychologist
takes into consideration the overall characteristics of a mental health instead of mental illness. In
this light, people are expected to meet specific criteria to be regarded as normal. Another

Abnormal Psychology 3
approach is the deviation from the social norms. Notably, abnormality is a form of illness where
an individual deviate from social norms (Aina, 2018, p. 203). People are labeled as abnormal in
case their behavior is different from what is accepted in the society.
Primarily, DSM-5 is regarded to be a manual that is used to assess and diagnose mental
disorders in patients. In essence, this method does not include specific information or rather
guidelines that are used for treating of any abnormality. In this light, determining an accurate
diagnosis is regarded as the main step towards treating any medical condition as well as mental
disorders. DSM-5 is, therefore, a valuable tool that can be used to measure the overall
effectiveness of any particular treatment because dimensional assessment often helps the
clinicians in the process of assessing various changes that may be encountered in the severity
levels as the primary response treatment (Rohde, Kieling, and Salum, 2018, p. 139). The main
reason why this method of diagnosis is currently or mainly used in the United States is that it is
compatible with the HIPAA-approved ICD 9-CM coding system that is often used by most
insurance companies in the USA.
Furthermore, ICD-10 is regarded to be an upgrade of the ICD that is a medical
classification list that is widely recognized by the World Health Organization. In essence, this
method mainly contains codes particularly for disease as well as signs and symptoms, abnormal
findings, and external causes especially of injury or even illnesses (Bickel, Crabbe, and Sher,
2019, p. 6). By the use of the classification, ICD-10 gives room for specificity particularly
concerning the cause, location, manifestation and various types of injuries in a patient. In this
light, the description as well as diagnostic guidelines particularly for the ICD-10 behavioral
disorders and mental illness. This method often defines the mental disorder to be a clinically set
of symptoms or rather behavior associated with distress and with a lot of interferences with