Describing my background in social work training, it should be noted that I am a junior social worker at Vatsalya Adult Medical Day Care Center. This facility aims to provide the necessary care and treatment for the elderly. My responsibilities include admission, psychosocial Assessment, Mini-Mental Status Evaluation, care planning, and several other responsibilities. Among other things, I also conduct interviews with patients and their families to successfully develop plans and programs. Thus, working exclusively with the elderly, I am skilled in improving psychosocial well-being and in restoring a social and healthy lifestyle.
The center where I work does not use DSM5 for mental health assessments. However, we use a similar evaluation model called Mini-Mental Status Evaluation (MMSE). This assessment system is widely used to identify cognitive functions among elderly patients. The Mini-Mental Status Evaluation tests include orientation, language, vision, and memory tests. Moreover, in the course of interviewing the patient, this approach allows us to give a certain assessment: the lower the score, the worse the level of dementia of the patient. Thus, since the center where I work deals with elderly patients, this MMSE seems to be a more effective assessment system.
Making an accurate diagnosis to the patient is critical for the specialist and the patient for several reasons. First, it is worth noting that in the case of psychiatry, disease and simple pathology are approximately on the same spectrum (Paris, 2015). Thus, it becomes important for the specialist to determine which symptoms will allow him to separate these two concepts. Secondly, it is an accurate diagnosis that allows doctors to prescribe the most effective method of treatment for a particular disease. Moreover, it is noted that the detection of a diagnosis in childhood is also critical, since many mental illnesses begin to manifest themselves at an early age.
With self-diagnosis, a person often does not have enough knowledge and experience, which inevitably leads to incorrect treatment. Thus, a person with frequent mood swings may come to the conclusion that he suffers from a manic-depressive disorder. However, this symptom is inherent in a number of other clinical diseases (Pillay, 2010). In this case, the person neglects their health and mental state, which can lead to severe consequences. Moreover, the doctor, as a specialist, has the necessary knowledge and qualifications to carry out the treatment as successfully as possible. Thus, with self-diagnosis, a person to some extent belittles the importance of the doctor.
References
Paris, J. (2015). Chapter 4, “What is (and is not) a mental disorder” (pp. 54-69). The intelligent clinician’s guide to the DSM-5 (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Pillay, S. (2010). The dangers of self-diagnosis: How self-diagnosis can lead you down the wrong path [Blog post]. Web.