Searching for the fundamental mental processes that cut across diagnostic categories, driving confusion and distress

----Searching for the fundamental mental processes that cut across diagnostic categories, driving confusion and distress //BPS Research DigestA new paper in Journal of Clinical Psychology is the just the latest to take a trans-diagnostic approach to mental healthBy Alex FraderaThe number of psychiatric diagnoses keep on growing, with perhaps ten times as many categories now as there were 50 years ago. This may in part reflect our growing knowledge, which is welcome. But the sheer density of diagnoses makes it difficult for researchers or clinicians to see the wood for the trees, and it encourages them to settle into silos. It would be advantageous for clinical research and practice if we could introduce some elegance to our understanding. A recent movement in psychology and psychiatry is seeking to do exactly this. It follows evidence that, in the words of US psychologists Robert Kruger and Nicholas Eaton in their2015 review, " many mental disorders are manifestations of relatively few core underlying dimensions. " In the latest foray from this movement, theJournal of Clinical Psychology has published areview outlining another potential core feature: the repetitive occurrence of negative thoughts.The proliferation of psychiatric diagnoses was baked in from the beginning. Modern psychiatry sought to apply the burgeoning medical model to the mind, treating madness as illness. Physical illnesses are considered as discrete categories, even if they produce overlapping sympto...
Source: Intelligent Insights on Intelligence Theories and Tests (aka IQ's Corner) - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: blogs