According to Morrison (2014) comorbidity (aka dual diagnosis) is a situation where an individual has multiple diagnoses. Further, clinicians seem to agree that comorbidity should be applied to any patient who experiences two different disorders occurring together. Despite the fact that certain illnesses might seem to be highly comorbid, their relationship might entail that who share numerous symptoms. Majority of the people appearing for a mental health evaluation tend to have more than one disorder, for instance, addiction and mental illness or a behavioural disorder.
Morrison (2014) asserts that when identifying comorbidity, there is the need to consider the following: first, there is the need to determine whether the symptoms were covered by the principal diagnosis and if not, then one should consider the additional diagnosis. Secondly, one should identify the benefits of additional diagnosis and finally, determine whether the proposed additional diagnosis meets the criteria for the comorbid disorder one has in mind. The primary diagnostic principle states that, when the symptoms could not be sufficiently clarified by a single disorder, the clinician should adopt several diagnoses.
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The second principle holds that the clinician should avoid the personality disorder diagnosis when an individual is severely ill with an Axis I disorder. Care must be taken when diagnosing personality disorders in the face of other mental condition (Morrison, 2014). The demographic features of patients might affect the disorder that might be comorbid with others; therefore the clinician must be alert for any disorder already identified to be running in the family of the patient.
Yarhouse, Butman & McRay (2016) present up-to-date material in psychopathology as an ideal point of reference for both pastors and clinicians and the same can be used to understand psychopathology of comorbidity. The article approaches the placement of psychopathologies in pastoral care history, classification of the mental disorder like comorbidity in addition to the relationship between psychopathology and sin in the Christian worldview (Yarhouse, Butman & McRay, 2016). According to the Christian psychologists, psychotherapy can help in the treatment of comorbidity since because it deals with broader problems and seeking to change patient’s personality. Christian therapists will thus be critical to navigate and treat comorbidity using various family therapy approaches from a Christian perspective such as counselling.
References
Morrison, J. (2014). Diagnosis made easier: Principles and techniques for mental health clinicians . Guilford Publications.
Yarhouse, M. A., Butman, R. E., & McRay, B. W. (2016). Modern psychopathologies: A comprehensive Christian appraisal . InterVarsity Press.
