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DSM-IV Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: 4th Edition The DSM-IV is a multiaxial system that allows assessment on
several axes, each of which refers to a different domain of information that may
help the clinician plan treatment and predict outcome.
There are five axes included in the DSM-IV multiaxial classification: AXIS I:
Clinical Disorders. Axis
I is for reporting all the various disorders or conditions except for
Personality Disorders and Mental Retardation.
For Example: Mood Disorders, Eating Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, etc. AXIS II:
Personality Disorders and Mental Retardation.
Listing these disorders on a separate axis ensures that consideration
will be given to the possible presence of Personality Disorders and Mental
Retardation that might otherwise be overlooked when attention is directed to the
usually more florid Axis I disorders. AXIS III:
General Medical Conditions. Axis
III is for reporting medical conditions that are potentially relevant to the
understanding and management of the individual’s mental disorder. AXIS IV:
Psychosocial and Environmental Problems.
Axis IV is for reporting psychosocial or environmental problems that
may affect the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of mental disorders (Axis I
and Axis II). For example:
educational problems, housing problems, problems with access to health care
services, problems with (or lack of) primary support group, legal problems, etc. Axis V: Global Assessment of Functioning. Axis V is for reporting the clinician’s judgment of the individual’s overall level of functioning using the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale. Clinicians rate the patient on a scale of 1 to 100 with 1 = “persistent danger of severely hurting self or others OR occasionally fails to maintain minimal personal hygiene OR gross impairment in communication” and 100 = “superior functioning in a wide range of activities, life’s problems never seem to get out of hand, is sought out by others because of his or her many positive qualities. No symptoms”. |
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