Here’s a quick rundown from the bible of psychological diagnosis, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-IV).
Axis 1 includes clinical ( mental ) disorders used to report various disorders or conditions, as well as noting other conditions that may be a focus of clinical attention. Clinical disorders are identified into 14 categories, including anxiety disorders, childhood disorders, cognitive disorders, dissociative disorders, eating disorders, factitious disorders, impulse control disorders, mood disorders, psychotic disorders, sexual and gender identity disorders, sleep disorders, somatoform disorders, and substance-related disorders.
OCD ( Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) an anxiety disorder. OCD is characterized by uncontrollable intrusive thoughts and action that can only be alleviated by patterns of rigid and ceremonial behavior. Symptoms frequently cause considerable distress and interference with daily social or work activities. There may be a major preoccupation with the smallest of details in daily life. Obsessive ideas frequently involve contamination, dirt, diseases, germs, real / imagined trauma, or some type of frightening / unpleasant theme. People recognize their obsessive ideas do not make sense but are unable to stop them. These obsessive thoughts frequently lead to compulsive behaviors as the person try to prevent or change some dreaded event. They frequently repeat activities over and over again. ( E.g., washing hands, cleaning things up, checking locks )
Diagnostic criteria: see footnote 1.
Axis 2 includes personality disorders. . . . Personality is the qualities and traits of being a specific and unique individual. It is the enduring pattern of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, it is how we think, love, feel, make decisions and take actions. Personality is determined, in part, by out genetics and also, by out environment. It is the determining factor in how we live our lives. Individuals with Personality Disorders have more difficulty in every aspect of their lives. Their individual personality traits reflect ingrained, inflexible, and maladaptive patterns of behaviors that cause discomfort, distress and impair the individual's ability to function in the daily activities of living. [Axis 2 disorders rarely benefit from therapy or therapeutic drugs].
Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder is characterized by perfectionism and inflexibility. A person with a Obsessive-Compulsive Personality becomes preoccupied with uncontrollable patterns of thought and action. Symptoms may cause extreme distress and interfere with a person's occupational and social functioning. [Most people with OCPD do not consider their behavior to be a problem, but they often drive their associates and family crazy.]
Diagnostic criteria: see footnote 2.
Beyond DSM IV’s objective criteria, some psychologists have identified another dimension of the OC spectrum:
A Comparison of the Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Style and Disorder
Click here to see this table in larger form.
Source: Handbook of Diagnosis and Treatment of DSM-IV Personality Disorders, by Len Sperry, M.D., Ph.D.
My memories of Janie Wilson are so fragmentary that any diagnosis is wild speculation:
Carolyn Cook was singing in her vibrato soprano voice and Miss Wilson abusively told her in front of three classes that her affected singing style was unacceptable.
A soft-spoken fourth-grade play actor was enunciating from the stage unacceptably and was abruptly jerked from the play and replaced with a loud-speaking boy (Don).
Janie’s seeming preoccupation with hands and fingers also is interesting. OCD spectrum disorders include “quirky” body movements such as snapping fingers, which may be a “habit” developed to release tension. Similarly, the person with OCD may habitually “pick” at different areas of the body, including picking scabs, pulling out hair (trichotillomania), picking at the tissue around nails, or pinching unruly children.
Aside from these speculations are these most obvious truths about Janie:
She was smart, articulate and confident during a time when it was better for a woman to be less smart, less articulate and less confident. She managed with authority but some disdain many ignorant Southern brats.
As Betty Friedan began her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique in Chapter One—The Problem That Has No Name
The problem lay buried, unspoken, for many years in the minds of American women. It was a strange stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning that women suffered in the middle of the twentieth century in the United States. Each suburban wife struggled with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped for groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her children, chauffeured Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husband at night—she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question—“is this all?” [For more about Betty Friedan, click here.]
How much stranger was it to Miss Janie Wilson (9351 Alta Mira Dr.)?
Did she suffer more than did Mrs. Betty Williams, OU magna cum laude graduate (10161 Estacado Dr.),
or fashion conscious Mrs. Lewis Sifford (10138 San Lorenzo Dr.),
or maternal mom Mrs. Ruth Roan (10120 Pinecrest Dr.)?
-----------------------------------
Footnotes
Footnote 1
Diagnostic Criteria For Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder OCD
A. Either obsessions or compulsions:
Obsessions as defined by (1), (2), (3), and (4):
1. recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that are experienced, at some time during the disturbance, as intrusive and inappropriate and that cause marked anxiety or distress
2. the thoughts, impulses, or images are not simply excessive worries about real-life problems
3. the person attempts to ignore or suppress such thoughts, impulses, or images, or to neutralize them with some other thought or action
4. the person recognizes that the obsessional thoughts, impulses, or images are a product of his or her own mind (not imposed from without as in thought insertion)
Compulsions as defined by (1) and (2):
1. repetitive behaviors (e.g., hand washing, ordering, checking) or mental acts (e.g., praying, counting, repeating words silently) that the person feels driven to perform in response to an obsession, or according to rules that must be applied rigidly
2. the behaviors or mental acts are aimed at preventing or reducing distress or preventing some dreaded event or situation; however, these behaviors or mental acts either are not connected in a realistic way with what they are designed to neutralize or prevent or are clearly excessive
B. At some point during the course of the disorder, the person has recognized that the obsessions or compulsions are excessive or unreasonable. Note: This does not apply to children.
C. The obsessions or compulsions cause marked distress, are time consuming (take more than 1 hour a day), or significantly interfere with the person’s normal routine, occupational (or academic) functioning, or usual social activities or relationships.
D. If another Axis I disorder is present, the content of the obsessions or compulsions is not restricted to it (e.g, preoccupation with food in the presence of an Eating Disorder; hair pulling in the presence of Trichotillomania; concern with appearance in the presence of Body Dysmorphic Disorder; preoccupation with drugs in the presence of a Substance Use Disorder; preoccupation with having a serious illness in the presence of Hypochondriasis; preoccupation with sexual urges or fantasies in the presence of a Paraphilia; or guilty ruminations in the presence of Major Depressive Disorder).
E. The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition.
Footnote 2
Diagnostic Criteria of Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder OCPD
A pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and interpersonal control, at the expense of flexibility, openness, and efficiency, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by four (or more) of the following:
is preoccupied with details, rules, lists, order, organization, or schedules to the extent that the major point of the activity is lost
shows perfectionism that interferes with task completion (e.g., is unable to complete a project because his or her own overly strict standards are not met)
is excessively devoted to work and productivity to the exclusion of leisure activities and friendships (not accounted for by obvious economic necessity)
is overconscientious, scrupulous, and inflexible about matters of morality, ethics, or values (not accounted for by cultural or religious identification)
is unable to discard worn-out or worthless objects even when they have no sentimental value
is reluctant to delegate tasks or to work with others unless they submit to exactly his or her way of doing things
adopts a miserly spending style toward both self and others; money is viewed as something to be hoarded for future catastrophes
shows rigidity and stubbornness
No comments:
Post a Comment