Definition Of Deviation From Ideal Mental Health

What factors should be considered in distinguishing between normal and abnormal behavior? What relationships of importance might exist between social psychology and abnormal psychology?

The term ‘abnormal’ means deviating from the average. Therefore, if we were to adopt a literal approach to defining abnormality, we would conclude that any rare behaviour or ability was abnormal. This, however, is not a useful way of defining abnormality as it doesn’t take into account whether or not the behaviour is desirable. There are three ways of defining abnormality; deviation from

In this paper I will be explaining the different aspects of abnormal psychology and how it is frequently portrayed in the media. The movie I will be basing this off of is What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. It shows the life of a depressed, morbidly obese woman and one of her children who has a mental disability. There are many different ideas as to what is considered normal versus abnormal especially when it comes to the understanding of different disorders and their approaches to treatment.

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”.

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

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

Again, most of the people diagnose should have problems with self-care interpersonal relationship and occupational dysfunctions of which their set goals are always deviated from the normal as well as academic level marked below level prior to the onset of the condition. Much of it are the level of functioning of societal norms; of which they go against it the most to be the deviants in the society.

Abnormality is a term that should be used with extreme caution due to its subjective nature. What's defined as normal or abnormal is generally determined by the standard of behavior that is expected in regards to a specific community or group. Human societies tend to gravitate towards norms, correct ways to behave, standard ways to look, socially acceptable attitudes that we deem as ordinary. To be judged abnormal is to be rejected, to be regarded as faulty; in need of repair. This contrived idea is all about conformity, what the average is, about what we believe the absolute measure of reality is. In observation you shall see that in many cases society's problems arise from the mismatch between what we really are and the social myths that

Abnormality of one’s behavior can also be monitored by looking at its statistical frequency. Meaning how common ones behavior is when compared to the rest of the public. If one’s behavior is shared by many it is deemed common and therefore “normal”, however if ones behavior is uncommon or rare, it is deemed abnormal. For example one may say that an individual who has an IQ below or above the average level of IQ in society is abnormal. The problem with this system is the fact that, it does not account for the desirability of the given behavior. In other words this system claims that both low and high IQ’s are an abnormality that need to be treated.

Abnormal psychology in the area within psychology that is focused on maladaptive behavior-its causes, consequences, and treatment. Abnormal psychology deals with how it feels to be different, the meanings the get attached to being different, and how society deals with people whom it considers to be different. The spectrum of differences is wide, ranging from reality defying delusions and severe debilitations to worries and behavioral quirks that we would be better off not having but do not significantly interfere with our daily lives. An example of the milder end of the spectrum is a man who was an eminently successful district attorney, was elected governor of New York on three occasions, and was almost elected

For many years scientists, including doctors, psychologists, and psychiatrists, have been interested in trying to understand human behaviour, in particular behaviour that is described as being ‘abnormal’. It is difficult to define ‘abnormal’ in terms of behaviour because there are many differing descriptions which have radically changed over the years. ‘Abnormal’ behaviour is widely categorised as being persistent and in a serious degree contrary to the continued wellbeing of the individual and/or the surrounding community. Cultural beliefs and expectations determine which behaviour patterns are deemed as being ‘abnormal’.

At best, objective determination of normal/abnormal behavior is through diagnostic systems, one of which is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, also called DSM. Published

There are several models of abnormality in use today (Comer, 2009) lists “The Biological Model…”, “The Psychodynamic Model…”, The Behavioral Model…”, The Cognitive Model…”, The Humanistic-Existential Model…”, The Sociocultural Model…” (p.33). The biggest contrasts would be the Biological model, and the other models. Comparing the biological model, and the cognitive model will highlight those differences.

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

The concept of being “normal” is one that is often spoken about being the front of conversation, spoken with much defence and controversy. In contrast, this topic is spoken about with great “hush” because it is seen as a taboo in society; due to the sensitive issue of an individuals expected behaviour. On the other hand, the topic of “abnormal” is often given a similar light to the idea of being “normal”. Many psychologist have tried to explain one of these labels often using the starting point of normality, then any behaviour that deviates away from this is seen as abnormal. However, as many psychologist and theorists have found there is much more complexity behind each label, this is due to diversity of people, cultural relativism and mixed societies within the world all trying to define their own concept of what is “normal” and “abnormal” human behaviour.