Multiple Sources of Data - Cross-Examining Psych Doctors, Tip #94

     Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) diagnoses are made after considering as many as five different sources of information collected by the evaluating doctor at the time of the examination.  These sources of information are:  the patient’s life history and their presenting complaints or symptoms, the doctor’s report of their face-to-face Mental Status Examination, the objective psychological testing data, the patient’s medical records and any collateral sources of information in the form of interviews with the patient’s friends, relatives and/or co-workers.  By no means whatsoever should a DSM diagnosis be arrived at by simply considering the psychological testing data.  In fact, a review of page xxxii of the DSM-IV-TR explicitly states, “Assessments that rely solely on psychological testing not covering the criteria content (e.g., projective testing) cannot be validly used as the primary source of diagnostic information.”  Thus, if you encounter a psychological evaluation report where the diagnostic conclusions were arrived at solely based on psychological testing data, you should ask the doctor where in their report they considered the patient’s life history and their presenting complaints, the face-to-face Mental Status Examination data, the patient’s medical records or the contents of page xxxii of the DSM-IV-TR.