Abnormal psychology is the study of thoughts and behavior that deviate from the norm. This usually refers to mental disorders that distort the way people think and act. The field primarily consists of psychologists who research abnormal psychology, and counselors and psychiatrists who treat the conditions that arise from it. The standard manual for abnormal psychology is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) which is released by the American Psychiatric Association. Currently, the DSM is in its 4th edition (DSM-IV).
Currently the DSM-IV is what is used to make a diagnosis of mental illness in a patient. The patient is assessed on 5 axes. Axis I is for clinical syndromes the patient has like schizophrenia or generalized anxiety disorder. This is the main diagnosis. Axis II is for developmental and personality disorders that affected or currently affect the life of the patient pervasively. Examples are mental retardation and antisocial personality disorder. Axis III is for physical medical conditions the patient has that might worsen the symptoms of the disorder, like diabetes or HIV. Axis IV is for psychosocial and environmental factors that might contribute, like abuse or divorce. Axis V is for the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) which rates the functioning of the patient on a scale of 0 to 100, 0 being the most impaired.
Sometimes the DSM is controversial and its validity is questioned. Critics have found fault with some of the disorders listed to begin with. For example, prior to DSM III homosexuality was considered a mental illness and currently transsexualism is listed as Gender Identity Disorder (GID). Other issues are the nature of the DSM’s categorizations. The criteria might not distinguish certain disorders from others sufficiently and patients might not always fall so neatly into the criteria. A diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD) requires the presence of a major depressive episode lasting 2 weeks, and a patient who experienced an episode 1 day less than 2 weeks would not qualify, but it would likely be fallible to conclude that this patient wasn’t suffering from depression.
There’s no doubt that abnormal psychology is a valid field-no one can deny that mental illness exists, but defining the nature of abnormal psychology is a challenge that isn’t always adequately met. However, abnormal psychology is also a dynamic field that continues to progress, discovering new perspectives on the recognition and treatment of mental illness over time. The DSM-V is due sometime in the future, and DSM-VI or possibly a different manual entirely after that.