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Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning (IATL)

Exploring the DSM-based System of Diagnosing Mental Disorders

Jade Oh

Jade Oh studied Biological Sciences (BSc Hons) from 2018-21, taking Navigating Psychopathology as a third-year choice.

About the Project

Though widely utilised, the DSM is not without controversy and backlash. There has been an

increasing awareness regarding its authority and accuracy, based on scientific evidence from

research studies as well as experiential evidence from clinicians, researchers and patients.

This essay aims to explore the shortfalls of the DSM-based diagnostic system[.]

- Jade Oh

Read Essay
Jade's Blog

Jade has also written a blog including a section about her experience of taking this module, posted on 22 April 2021.

From https://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/jadeoh/: On the academic side, I was wrapping up one of my favourite modules, Navigating Psychopathology which is taught by Warwick’s Institute of Advanced Teaching and Learning (IATL). I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity this year to take modules outside of my home Department, as this class allowed me to experience the learning of other subjects (ranging from psychology and neuroscience to film and literature) with classmates from many other Departments. We were also given great flexibility in our final assessment – a reflective essay compiling the 10 weeks of learning/discussion as well as a final essay on a topic of our choice. I chose to explore the DSM-based system of diagnosing mental disorders, writing about the increasing evidence against using it for the diagnosis of psychiatric conditions. This included an overview of its rather chequered past, to the harmful consequences to Medicine of dependence on a rigidly categorised form of diagnosis. I then analysed the sociocultural changes towards mental health and psychiatry, especially as a consequence of changes to the manual over its editions – for example, the decision made by its editorial committee to change the maximum age of ADHD diagnosis criteria. Despite this, I made sure to weigh the benefits of having such a manual, such as for the purposes of administration, legislation and medical record-keeping for patients. The research and thinking that I carried out for this essay was a period of great learning and introspection, as it allowed me to consider how my degree/field of Biology is applied in the “real world.” Overall, undertaking this module gave me an increased appreciation of interdisciplinarity across seemingly unconnected subjects, and also opened my eyes to my great interest in this field as a potential pathway for integrating scientific and humanistic research.
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