The DSM specifices certain “time periods” for symptoms to qualify for a diagnosis, what is their purpose?
342945
The time periods are in place so that someone is not diagnosed with something they don't have.  With you example of Major Depression... most people experience signs of depression occasionally.  The symptoms can be triggered by lots of things including experiencing a great loss, hormones, and even the lack of sunlight.  But it is not necessarily a diagnosable illness unless the symptoms are ongoing.  In regards to personality disorders, they are not normally diagnosable until after the age of 18 because personality development is not complete yet in adolescents.
501116
Check the ICD-10.  Look under Mental and behavioural disorders and Diseases of the nervous system.
455263
Nobody here can diagnose you. There are so many things! You could have an underlying medical condition, depression, premenstrual, numerous conditions! Sometimes its as easy as working out and going outside for nature hikes (both of these  help with depression).
728696
OK, so it's a mood disorder and a serious mental illness. It has a strong genetic component, but appears to be triggered environmentally. There are no diagnostic tests for it, just psychiatric evaluation. Most sufferers are not diagnosed until middle age, and it takes an average of around 8-10 years to get a correct diagnosis. Historically, figures suggested it affects about 0.8% of the population at some point, which makes it about half as common as schizophrenia. In recent years, bipolar disorder has become an 'in' diagnosis, and many more people are being diagnosed at younger and younger ages. As with ADHD, this fad may well pass with time, although for the moment many celebrities appear to be 'popularising' it.\n\nIt is characterised by episodes of severe clinical depression and mania or hypomania (for definitions of those, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_diagnostic_criteria_for_bipolar_disorder ). The extreme end of mania often turns into psychosis, complete with hallucinations and delusions. During manic phases, the person's judgement and perception of reality is severely compromised, leading to risky actions with potentially damaging consequences (financially, sexually and relationship-wise). Untreated, episodes generally worsen over time due to an effect known as kindling. Untreated Bipolar sufferers are at a very high risk of suicide: 20-25% attempt it, and 15% succeed.\n\nThe cycles in bipolar disorder are much longer than people generally believe. Anyone whose mood changes from minute to minute is very unlikely to be bipolar. Bipolar 1 is characterised by mood episodes lasting many months, while Bipolar 2 has episodes in the region of weeks to months. Rapid and ultra-rapid cycling bipolar disorder is rare, and cycles last days to weeks.\n\nThere are many drugs available to treat the symptoms of bipolar (there is no cure). These are either anti-convulsants or anti-psychotics (personally I take both), and the most well known of these is Lithium. Most patients will go through a number of different drugs before finding one that works for them.
1149093
A pill doesn't diagnose anything.  AFTER a diagnosis is made, then a pill may be prescribed to treat a cause of illness or the appropriate response to a symptom.  \n\nEven after that is made clear, I still can't understand the question.
1060379
The symptoms vary according the the particular eating disorder.  Since there are many and multiple symptoms for each, it would be easier for me to give you a link that lists them for you rather then typing the symptoms out for you.  Go here, they are listed per specific disorder in clear, understandable terms:\nhttp://www.something-fishy.org/isf/signssymptoms.php\n\nIf you have any questions, feel very to email me by clicking on my avatar.
27662
Great answer by hidden_smiles.  The one thing I would add is that the period of mania can be exhibited as grandiosity.  Rapid speech and multiple ideas coming out at the same time.  An agitated frame of mind, extreme nervousness and paranoia.  Insomnia is a corollary having to do with the nervousness.  In some cases the grandiosity is expressed as irritability and anger.  The difficult thing is that there's no test as such for bipolar (manic-depressive) disorder.  One of the ways that bipolar disorder disorder is deduced is through a long term analysis by a counsellor, social worker or psychiatrist.  Another indicator is an adverse reaction to anti-depressant medication such as Zoloft or Celexa.  In some cases being on this medication can push somebody with bi-polar tendencies towards a state of mania.  The good news is that there are mood stabilizers that can be provided by a licensed psychiatrist if this is diagnosed.  All in all, there is a lot of help for this and a lot of information online.  Good luck to you.
27690
According to the DSM-IV-TR criteria for diagnosing a major depressive disorder (see also: DSM cautionary statement) one of the following two required elements need to be present:\n-Depressed mood, or\n-Loss of interest or pleasure.\n\nIt is sufficient to have either of these symptoms in conjunction with four of a list of other symptoms. These include:\n-Feelings of overwhelming sadness or fear, or the seeming inability to feel emotion.\n-A decrease in the amount of pleasure derived from what were previously pleasurable activities.\n-Changing appetite and marked weight gain or weight loss.\n-Disturbed sleep patterns, such as insomnia or excessive sleep.\n-Changes in activity levels, such as restlessness or a slowing of movement.\n-Fatigue, both mental and physical.\n-Feelings of guilt, helplessness, anxiety, and/or fear.\n-A decrease in self-esteem.\n-Trouble concentrating or making decisions.\n-Self-harm or ruminating on self-harm.\n-Ruminating on death and/or suicide.\n-Reduced memory.
690216
I won't give you the diagnostic criteria because you already have that.  I have worked with several people with BPD in the past 6 years.  Here are some common traits I have seen:\n\nSuicidal thoughts and gestures and parasuicidal behavior, like cutting and self-mutilation\nAttention seeking, cries for help, suicidal threats\nCatastrophizing, where everything is the end of the world.  However, if anything nears resolution, they begin to get uncomfortable and sometimes seek out things that are wrong or horrible (sometimes leading to self-sustaining depression or refusal to get better)\nInability to be alone- These are the people that feel they are defined by their romantic relationships and will literally jump from one boyfriend to the other.  Or they may be so afraid of being hurt, that they will never enter a relationship and just become promiscuous.\nDrug and alcohol abuse- they often do not believe there is anything wrong with them and will self-medicate.\nAnger and rage.  Extreme irritability.  \n\nDialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is designed specifically for the treatment of BPD. \n"Clients receiving DBT were significantly less likely to drop out of therapy, were significantly less likely to engage in parasuicide, reported significantly fewer parasuicial behaviors and, when engaging in parasuicidal behaviors, had less medically severe behaviors. Further, clients receiving DBT were less likely to be hospitalized, had fewer days in hospital, and had higher scores on global and social adjustment."
626917
These are specific diagnostic criteria for clinial depression.\n\nYou have had an episode of depression lasting at least two weeks with at least five of the following symptoms: \n(1) You are depressed, sad, blue, tearful. \n(2) You have lost interest or pleasure in things you previously liked to do. \n(3) Your appetite is much less or much greater than usual and you have lost or gained weight. \n(4) You have a lot of trouble sleeping or sleep too much. \n(5) You are so agitated, restless, or slowed down that others have begun to notice. \n(6) You are tired and have no energy. \n(7) You feel worthless or excessively guilty about things you have done or not done. \n(8) You have trouble concentrating, thinking clearly, or making decisions. \n(9) You feel you would be better off dead or have thoughts about killing yourself.\n\n**To be included these symptoms must be severe enough to upset your daily routine, to seriously impair your work, or to interfere with your relationships.\n\n**The depression must not have a specific cause like alcohol, drugs, medication side effect, or physical illness.\n\n**Your depression must not just a normal reaction to the death of a loved one.\n\nIf you meet thses criteria you are suffering from major depression and should seek the help of a professional
224115
I have my doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology. Clinical psychology focusing on the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. Basically, it is looking at abnormal behavior or thought patterns, what causes those abnormalities in a particular individual, and helps the individual learn coping skills and strategies that can best help them live as productive of a life as possible. Many clinical psychologists work in hospital or clinic settings with individuals experiencing persistant mental illness or lifetime deficits. Many disorders are chemically based in the brain such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. Diagnostic techniques used include psychological testing and interviewing. This is likely a brief and disjointed answer to your question. You can alwasy find more information at the American Psychological Associations Website or www.medlineplus.gov.
230330
I live with schizoaffective disorder, which is a diagnosis that shares symptoms with both schizophrenia and depression.  In regards to your question, I would say that the INSANE usually do not know they are crazy.  To be considered clinically insane, your symptoms have to be quite severe.  \n\nI don't think I'd qualify as insane at any point in my life, however I did spend about eight months in a "waking dream."  At no point during this time did I stop to think something may be wrong with me.  I have met others with similar experiences who told me that they ended up walking into an emergency room saying there was something wrong with their brain.\n\nWith schizophrenia and related disorders, most bot not all people have a symptom known to mental health professionals as "lack of insight."  When this symptom is present, it means precisely that the person has no idea that what they are experiencing is not real.\n\nI hope this answers your question.
593065
As someone with plenty of experience with related conditions, I think the answer is kind of complicated... Yes, there is a tendency towards overdiagnosis and overanalyzing these days, however...I think they've also gotten better at recognizing these kinds of problems. I don't think any of it reflects an actual increase in cases...I think it reflects things like catching cases that would have formerly gone under the radar, having broader definitions for the terms, and that tendency to label everything as pathological. There are some fringe groups who would have you believe otherwise, and I have encountered them as a person with NLD who's done a lot of research about it...but that's all they are: fringe groups who either want to scare people, sell something to people, or just benefit from bending the statistics somehow. \n\n"Autism", when it first came into the lexicon, was something very specific and very rare; these days, they talk about an "autistic spectrum", which is broad and easy to manipulate into whatever you want it to be to fit a particular situation. I think ADHD has a similar problem with terminology.
430101
I suffer from manic depression/bipolar. It took a while to be properly diagnosed but basically it was chronic depression, irritability, mood swings, rocky relationships, irresponsible actions/activities and paranoia. You won't qualify for bipolar until you've had a manic episode though and you'll know when that happens because everything will be unusually fantastic and your thinking will be unfocused with racing thoughts. These are just a few of the symptoms that I experienced but apart from the depression and manic episodes, everyone's symptoms can vary. Don't try and self diagnose though. Have an open communication with your doctor about it because it's very tricky to diagnose properly.\nHope that helps a little bit.
369805
symptoms are showing that you are a problem
947176
Basically just a symptom or indicator.
63537
It's kind of like the outbreak of ADD, more people are looking for the signs, thus more kids are being diagnosed with it. But also like ADD, they're reaching out, like you said, to a broader spectrum of kids, having varying degrees of Autism from very little to full blown. Years ago before Autism was understood this much (which it really isn't understood much at all), they would probably only diagnose the kids with the full-blown disorder rather than encompass with that label the kids who only have it slightly, so that attributes mostly. THe more popular reasoning, which is what people use to reason the outbreak of ADD, is that more psychiatrists are more ready to diagnose it, and more parents are ready to accept that disorder as a reason for their children's odd behavior, but which they may not suffer from necessarily. \n\n\nCheck out the DSM IV, I think there's some of it online, it gives the symptoms needed to diagnose every psychological disorder that is diagnosed today.