Psychological Diagnosis: Criteria and Stages

Most people firmly believe that a “mentally ill person” is someone who behaves and speaks in ways unrelated to logic or reality, making their actions seem strange to us. In truth, however, these are merely perceptions that we project onto people with mental illnesses, causing us to see them this way even though, in how they behave and speak, they are no different from people with physical illnesses.

We should therefore not treat them as a danger or make them feel that we are afraid to interact with them. Even internally, we should not feel endangered or at risk merely because we are speaking with someone who has a mental illness. To prevent our perceptions from condemning others to isolation simply because they have a mental illness, this article reviews the criteria and stages of psychological diagnosis. This can help us, as a society, embrace people with mental illnesses and understand how to interact with them.

How Do We Identify People With Mental Disorders?

To interact with people with mental illnesses, we must know who they are and be able to identify them at a community level. This is done through the following steps:

1. Conduct comprehensive screening to identify people who may have a mental disorder.
2. Take enough time to identify and understand the problem and begin treatment.
3. We can conduct comprehensive screening in a busy clinic.
4. Observe patients using typical psychological clinical indicators relevant to diagnosing mental illness. When these indicators are present in someone, we should suspect that they have a mental disorder.
5. Ask a set of questions that can help us recognize two of the most common types of mental health problems: common mental disorders and alcohol addiction. If the answer to any of these questions is positive, we should ask further questions about the subject.

Once we can identify people who have a mental illness, we must be able to examine them without fear, particularly if the examiner is not a specialist but has enough basic knowledge and skills to do so.

A psychological examination does not require specialization as much as it requires the empathy that enables the person conducting the psychological diagnosis to understand and embrace the patient, along with a strong ability to listen.

This leads us to the following question:

What Is the Psychologist’s Role During Psychological Diagnosis?

A psychologist experiences many emotions during psychological diagnosis, and their role lies in how they manage these feelings. They should:

1. Not fear being assaulted by the patient.
2. Not show disgust or revulsion toward the patient because some people with mental illnesses may have poor personal hygiene.
3. Avoid becoming tense because the interview may take longer than the diagnosis.
4. Restrain any urge to laugh at behavior by the patient that seems strange.
5. Try not to become angry if it becomes clear that the person has no mental disorder and came merely to waste the psychologist’s time.

It may be difficult for a psychologist to follow these steps during psychological diagnosis. However, they must recognize that providing any psychological care or support will be difficult if they allow these behaviors and feelings to control them.

All this will affect the patient more than the psychologist. The patient will feel uncomfortable and unsafe and will not express the feelings they are experiencing if the psychologist does not follow the previous steps. During psychological diagnosis, every professional should remember the importance of respecting the patient, showing empathy, and giving them enough time to express themselves.

We explain this through the following question:

What Should a Professional Remember When Examining Someone With a Mental Disorder?

1. Set aside enough time to speak with the patient and listen to them patiently and attentively.
2. Recognize that most people with mental illnesses can clearly describe what they are experiencing and that relatives have an important role in providing valuable information.
3. Recognize the importance of the assessment interview, which is the first step in treating the patient.
4. Questions can be used to help diagnose a range of common mental health problems.
5. Do not dismiss physical complaints merely because the person is psychologically distressed. A person with a mental illness may also have physical conditions that can help you make a better diagnosis of their mental illness.

What Clinical Indicators Suggest a Mental Disorder?

During an interview with the patient or people close to them, a doctor may use certain indicators to infer that the patient has a mental disorder. For example:

1. The person or their relatives directly and explicitly say that a mental disorder is present.
2. The person or their relatives describe behavior that has no logical basis.
3. There are direct causes of mental disorders resulting from alcohol consumption or domestic violence.
4. The person experiences problems related to relationships or life circumstances, such as unemployment or marital or sexual problems.
5. The patient reports several physical pains—more than three—that do not fall within one known physical illness.
6. There is a personal or family history of mental illness with a hereditary component.

Which Symptoms Help Diagnose Some Mental Disorders?

For example, if someone experiences at least one of the following symptoms for no less than two weeks, this means they most likely have anxiety or depression:

• Feeling sad, tense, irritable, or anxious.
• Loss of interest in daily activities.
• Experiencing disturbed sleep.
• Increased or reduced appetite.
• Poor concentration.
• Thinking about suicide.
• Rapid heartbeat, trembling, and dizziness.
• Feeling pain and aches throughout the body.

It is important not to seek this information through investigation, interrogation, or persistent pressure, as this can burden the patient beyond their capacity. We should also not rush to offer advice, as this places pressure on the patient.

The most important thing to recognize during psychological diagnosis is the importance of the time we set aside to understand why the patient sought psychological consultation or treatment, because this can save considerable effort later during treatment.

We must also recognize that, during psychological diagnosis, many mental health clinics view the patient in isolation from the environment in which they grew up and the pressures it created. They may be satisfied with listening to the patient and then begin prescribing medication, including painkillers and sleeping pills. This means treating the disorder’s symptoms without addressing the problem that caused it, leaving the patient trapped in a cycle of ineffective treatment and requiring a longer treatment period.

We therefore emphasize again what we said earlier: taking considerable time as a therapist during psychological diagnosis to determine the cause of the disorder and reach the actual problem will produce genuine long-term results in the treatment plan, instead of leaving the patient stuck in a plan that does not suit them.

To achieve the best results from psychological diagnosis, you, as a therapist, must understand the kinds of questions to ask so you can identify the type of mental disorder the patient has. Selecting and preparing these questions will not take much time, but it will save both you and the patient a great deal of time during treatment.

Download the Tatmeen app for online psychological and family consultations from the App Store or Google Play. You can also register on the Tatmeen mental health website for valuable information and practical tools to strengthen your mental and family well-being.