Abnormality Definition Essay

Abnormal behavior relates to the influence of psychological factors, biological factors as well as the social factors referring to inadequate relationships. In the face of diverse definition, abnormal behavior refers to the deviating from norm, which norm is the typical behavior or characteristic of the population. As such, Jim behavior is abnormal because it violates moral and conventional mores of the society (Violates societal standards), as such causing social discomfort to others. For instance, Jim fails to recognize the social cues in conversation thereby annoying other interlocutors. Jim is this case is behaving in a manner counterproductive to his own well being by

All around the world there are issues with people’s health, specifically mental health. Some people are declared “insane”, “crazy” and even “the mentally disabled.” It is believed that to have a mental illness, you are you act or think in weird ways. Ronald W. Manderscheid, Carol D. Ryff, Elise Freeman, Lela McKnight-Eily, Satvinder Dhingra and Tara Strine, authors of “Evolving Definitions of Mental Illness and Wellness”, state that “In 1948, the World Health Organization defined health as ‘a state of complete physical,

The issue of humanity’s mental health is something our species has dealt with since the beginning of our existence – even if it wasn’t publically acknowledged. Mental health is generally defined as a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being: a disorder of thought or mood which significantly impairs the judgment, behavior, capacity to recognize reality, or ability to cope with the ordinary demands of life resulting in possible harm to themselves or others. The World Health Organization, also known as WHO, has defined mental health as “a state of well-being that enables a person to cope with the normal stresses of his or her life, do productive work, contribute to the community, and otherwise realize his or her potential” (WHO, 2014). What we as humans face, is the overwhelming struggle to attain a proper state of psychological and emotional well-being – which can be more difficult than commonly thought in today’s society all around the world.

All that's required to see if a person is mentally healthy is if they fulfil the defined criteria, making it easier to define mental health as there is a set of conditions to be satisfied.

deviations. That is, unusual values are either less than μ - 2σ or greater than μ + 2σ.

Mental health has been a recurring topic in present society and it is a very large section of health care in general. Health can be termed as an absence of disease, but it really is much more than that and should encompass every facet of the human, mind and body. The WHO defines mental health as a state of well-being in which an individual can function properly and productively, cope with life stressors, and contribute to community. Mental health is dependent on many factors, mainly social, biological, and psychological (WHO). A mental disorder is a condition of alterations

Abnormality can be hard to define as different people see it in a variety of ways. In this essay, we are going to be focusing on 2 main aspects of the definition towards the topic, “Failure to function adequately” and “Deviation from social norms”.

Problems with defining abnormality using this definition includes the fact that some mental disorders do not cause distress and that sometimes it is normal to be distressed. One problem with this definition is abnormal behaviour may actually be helpful for the individual. For example, a person who has the obsessive-compulsive disorder of hand-washing may find that their behaviour makes them cheerful, happy and able to cope with their day (McLeod, 2008).

A weakness of using statistical infrequency as a definition of abnormality is that some abnormal behaviour is desirable. For example, having an IQ over 150 is not common, however it is something that is desired by many. Therefore, in order to define something as abnormal, both infrequent and undesirable behaviour will need to be identified. This therefore

Mental health is being aware, accepting yourself, and striking a balance in all aspects of your life; in particular social, spiritual, physical, economical, and mental (Association C. M., 2001). Mental health can be described as our positive interactions with the context and events in our life, and having the ability to cope with life’s stressors. Mental health problems can begin at anytime during your life. In fact, anything can make it difficult for an individual’s ability to interact effectively, which may lead into a mental health problem (Association C. M., 2001) (CAMH, 2010).

According to the text, abnormality can be defined by comparing the behavior of the person in question to a set of criteria. This set of

Mental health is a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being (Press). If a person’s psychological well-being becomes ill their body can suffer. Some doctors say that a patient’s body with mental

Statistical deviance looks are rare or infrequent instances and if someone falls outside the norm they could have a disorder. On the outside it seems using common sense would be a good idea. If someone is acting different from the majority of the population there might be something wrong with them. This criteria is also very objective and measurements are easier to take. All one has to do is see how if someone acts outside the norm and how much. However, there are many problems with this criteria. Who’s to say how far is too far from the norm. Normal behavior would be set on a bell curve, any behavior on either ends would be considered abnormal, even if it’s just a high IQ that people are often praised for and not labeled as having a disorder. Not every unusual behavior is a disorder, as being left handed is unusual and not a disorder, and not ever disorder is rare, such as alcoholism.

Psychological dysfunction is somewhat not satisfactory on the account of the behavior is contiuum. A more sensative impairment would not meet the standards for a disorder. Personal distress, by itself, this criteria doesn’t define abnormal behavior, because distress can be a normal reaction to a trumatic situation. Psychological diorders, by meaning, the suffering and distess is missing. Atypical or not culturally accepted is insufficient when it refers to someone such as a person with an extremely high IQ, who’s atypical but not dysfunctional. Culturally

Abnormal behavior is defined as a psychological dysfunction within an individual associated with distress or impairment in functioning and response that is not typical or culturally expected (Durand, 2005). There are