When does ordinary sadness become a disorder in the DSM sense?
When a pattern of disturbance meets criteria that include distress and dysfunction, for a specified duration, and is not better explained as a culturally expected response (Myers & DeWall, 2021; Spielman et al., 2020). A psychological disorder is a classified syndrome, not a moral verdict. The DSM is a manual. This article is education, not a clinic, and not a way to diagnose yourself or anyone else.
If two classified conditions occur together, what is that called?
Comorbidity. The medical model treats these syndromes as diagnosable and treatable; it is a framework, not a finished cause. Figure 19.1 lists intro-level families of disorders as names of chapters, not as a checklist to apply. If the reading raises distress, that is a reason to talk to a qualified professional — not a reason to finish a self-diagnosis from an intro survey.
| Family (survey) | What the name is doing in an intro course |
|---|---|
| anxiety-related | A chapter heading for syndromes whose dominant feature is anxiety or related avoidance |
| depressive and bipolar | A chapter heading for syndromes of mood |
| schizophrenia-spectrum | A chapter heading for syndromes involving psychosis |
| others in the text | OCD-related, trauma-related, eating, substance, personality — each is a heading, not a self-score |
Check yourself with a quick quiz
A few questions on this lesson only. Questions you miss come back later. Progress stays in this browser and is shared with the full quiz.
References
- Myers, D. G., & DeWall, C. N. (2021). Psychology (13th ed.). Worth.
- Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020). Psychology 2e. OpenStax.
Image and media credits
- Top image. A closed case binder on a desk under a lamp. It sets the scene for this lesson on psychological disorders. Source: Created for this site with Grok Imagine (xAI), an AI image generator. License: Original image made for mattgaugerx.com.
