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There are a reasonable amount of similarities in the way that mental and physical disorders are assessed. In both cases only a professional can provide an accurate assessment (text, p. 79). There are also tests that need to be taken in order for the person who is ill to have the ability to fully understand what they have to do. Rating scales are used in both cases, for mental patients they are used in order to assess the true causes as well as to organize information (text, p. 81); in physical disorders they are often used to judge the amount of discomfort and for the physician to infer the amount of pain and suffering the patient is facing. Physical, Neurological, and Neuropsychological examinations are used in order to assess mental and physical disorders; for mental disorders they are used to examine the depth of the issue, while in physical disorders they are used to examine the extent of the trauma. The main differences between the assessment of mental and physical disorders is the mental professional that you would see. For a mental disorder it would be a psychologist or a psychiatrist, while for a physical disorder you would visit a general medical doctor. There is also the additional point when you have a mental disorder that you are less likely to be aware of it, so you cannot tell whether or not you need help and therefore you cannot self assess the issue, whereas with a physical disorder a person can make a basic assessment (text, p. 89).
In terms of the diagnosis, in both cases it should be done by a professional who has ample knowledge of the subject area and knows how to correctly identify the issue as well as treat it. Without a professional opinion there cannot be an official and accurate diagnosis of the condition that a patient is facing. There are however, differences between the ways that both of these situations are diagnosed; when a patient is dealing with a mental disorder they go to a therapist in order to deal with their emotions and discuss the symptoms that they are facing, while when a person is suffering from a physical disorder they go to a doctor who looks them over, prescribes them with medication or suggests a method to deal with their ailment. The time taken to assess a mental disorder is greater because oftentimes the symptoms need to be present for a longer period of time in order for the psychiatrist to diagnose. For mental disorders the DSM-IV model is used to classify and diagnose different problems (text, p. 89). When a patient is facing a physical disorder there is often a lower amount of symptoms, such as pain in a specific area, or overall discomfort that they face, which makes it less complicated for a physician to diagnose what they have.
Many physical disorders as well as mental disorders are caused by genetics, trauma, or early life experiences. Because the etiology for both disorders is relatively similar, the people living with these illnesses live similar lives. Mental disorders are often shaped during childhood by certain stressful situations like neglect and abuse, and then later on in life traumatic events can either trigger or suppress the illness (text, p. 36). There are also those who are genetically predisposed to becoming mentally ill such is the case with Down syndrome. The same applies for physical disorders; oftentimes people are genetically predisposed to becoming ill such as the case with diabetes and heart disease. The differences between the two are as follows: there are usually a lot of causes for any particular mental disorder while for physical disorders there are a marked few causes per disorder. In mental disorders there are also necessary, sufficient, and contributory causes that preface different disorders because they often hint at a link between a particular instance and a mental disorder that either will follow, or has a higher chance of occurring.
In terms of the diagnosis, in both cases it should be done by a professional who has ample knowledge of the subject area and knows how to correctly identify the issue as well as treat it. Without a professional opinion there cannot be an official and accurate diagnosis of the condition that a patient is facing. There are however, differences between the ways that both of these situations are diagnosed; when a patient is dealing with a mental disorder they go to a therapist in order to deal with their emotions and discuss the symptoms that they are facing, while when a person is suffering from a physical disorder they go to a doctor who looks them over, prescribes them with medication or suggests a method to deal with their ailment. The time taken to assess a mental disorder is greater because oftentimes the symptoms need to be present for a longer period of time in order for the psychiatrist to diagnose. For mental disorders the DSM-IV model is used to classify and diagnose different problems (text, p. 89). When a patient is facing a physical disorder there is often a lower amount of symptoms, such as pain in a specific area, or overall discomfort that they face, which makes it less complicated for a physician to diagnose what they have.
Many physical disorders as well as mental disorders are caused by genetics, trauma, or early life experiences. Because the etiology for both disorders is relatively similar, the people living with these illnesses live similar lives. Mental disorders are often shaped during childhood by certain stressful situations like neglect and abuse, and then later on in life traumatic events can either trigger or suppress the illness (text, p. 36). There are also those who are genetically predisposed to becoming mentally ill such is the case with Down syndrome. The same applies for physical disorders; oftentimes people are genetically predisposed to becoming ill such as the case with diabetes and heart disease. The differences between the two are as follows: there are usually a lot of causes for any particular mental disorder while for physical disorders there are a marked few causes per disorder. In mental disorders there are also necessary, sufficient, and contributory causes that preface different disorders because they often hint at a link between a particular instance and a mental disorder that either will follow, or has a higher chance of occurring.
