Psychological Disorders: Abnormal Behavior And Mental Processes

Crash Course #28: Psychological Disorders How do we define a psychological disorder? What does that definition mean to you? We define a psychological disorder as a mental disorder or disability.

Jeffrey was arrested in the same year, 1988, for sexually fondling and drugging a young teenage boy (age thirteen); for this, he was put on probation for five years and for one year he was assigned to a work release camp where he was registered as a sex offender from the incident with the thirteen year old boy. Due to good behavior and a built up trust with the authorities, Dahmer was paroled from his work release camp two months early.

Two of the possible diagnoses for Ruth are generalised anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder which is also known as dysthymia.

Abnormality may be defined as behavior that causes distress, loss of freedom, physical or emotional pain, and increased risk of death or injury to self or something that causes a disability of some sort. Abnormal behaviour is however difficult to diagnose because it is, to a large extent, based on the symptoms people exhibit. Psychiatrists and psychologists use a standardized system called a diagnostic manual to help them but this system isn’t without faults. Since there is no clear definition of normality or abnormality – and symptoms of the same psychological disorders may vary not only between individuals but also between social and cultural groups, it is clear that a

Physical well-being is assumed to be directly associated with the mental and behavioural well-being of an individual. It is commonly noted that people adopt difficult and irritating behaviour once they are not in perfect state of physical health. The root cause of depression is often attributed to disturbed situation one is facing. However, it may not be valid in all cases.

A psychological disorder, also known as a mental disorder, is a pattern of behavioral or psychological symptoms that impact multiple life areas and create distress for the person experiencing these symptoms. These symptoms are characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual 's cognitive, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental process underlying mental functioning. Mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress in social, occupational, or other important activities. Approximately 26 percent of American adults over the age of 18 suffer from some diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. (Cherry)

Historical perspectives of abnormal psychology sounds complicated, mainly due to the differing definitions, or interpretations, of what is considered abnormal. Identifying someone at work or in a social situation who appears to be behaving abnormally is easier to spot than it is to define the term abnormal behavior. No matter what the definition of abnormal the different perspectives each present a theory concerning its cause. This paper will provide a brief overview of the different perspectives and the theories presented by each.

While no commonly recognized definition of the term ‘abnormality’ exists to examine the observations described below, most descriptions of aberrant behavior share some common aspects, namely, deviance, dysfunction, danger and distress (“four Ds”). In other words, mental aberration patterns are usually deviant (atypical, out of the ordinary, radical, possibly even strange), distressing (distasteful and disturbing to the individual), potentially dangerous, and dysfunctional (hampering the individual’s capacity of carrying out everyday tasks constructively). Such a broad description provides a valuable basis for examining the abnormal phenomena outlined in this paper (Comer, 2013).

According to the modern perspective of abnormal psychology, abnormal behavior exists when an individual is behaving dangerously and/or showing patterns of behavior that are dysfunctional. Nevertheless, determining insanity among sanity has proven to be much more complicated than it sounds. An individual whose behavior strays from societal standards is not necessarily abnormally deviant or insane. John Hu simply exhibits behaviors that are different from that of typical European/French social norms and is hence considered to be insane. Hu is perceived by Father Foucquet to be improper and savage-like just because he helps himself to more than one serving and speaks out of turn. The Renault’s view Hu as unappreciative and “out-of-place” because he strongly voices his preference of not wanting to eat with the housekeeper, further rejecting the social position to which he was assigned. Lieutenant D’Argenson finds Hu bothersome and unwise for leaving the Bayneses’ house without permission and getting himself lost in the process. Hu’s behaviors to this extent cannot be considered as dysfunctional, but rather just peculiar. As a way to make sense of all the strange activities that they have never witnessed before, people bear a negative perception of Hu and label him as insane. Having a strong sense of pride and preference is not the same as being insane. Hu prefers to sleep on the floor with the windows open probably due to a common Chinese custom. He just simply wants to feel

by the brain to other parts of the body are not normal in people with

In the management of patients, it is essential ambulance clinicians understand and adhere to the proficiency ethics set out by the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC, 2014). Furthermore, as a student ambulance clinician I now recognise the relevance of possessing non-technical skills as well as an in-depth knowledge of theoretical subjects such as ethics and law, professionalism and abnormal psychology is equally essential for efficient patient care.

Abnormality may be defined as behavior that causes distress, loss of freedom, physical or emotional pain, and increased risk of death or injury to self or something that causes a disability of some sort. Abnormal behaviour is however difficult to diagnose because it is, to a large extent, based on the symptoms people exhibit. Psychiatrists and psychologists use a standardized system called a diagnostic manual to help them but this system isn’t without faults. Since there is no clear definition of normality or abnormality – and symptoms of the same psychological disorders may vary not only between individuals but also between social and cultural groups, it is clear that a

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

A psychological disorder is defined as a behavior that exhibits a collection of symptoms that cause stress and/or disability to an individual. These disorders can range from alcohol and substance abuse to Alzhiemer’s and schizophrenia. Studies show that about 46% of the United States population suffers from a mental disorder some time in their life. There are many forms of treatment available, as the effects of these disorders cause distress and suffering not only to the individual, but for those around them too.

To me, abnormal is any behavior(s) that creates significant dysfunction to someone’s day to day life and social relationships. When taking into account different cultural costumes, social mores, and religious beliefs, defining abnormal is a difficult thing to do. What may be considered abnormal for me, due to my cultural beliefs and systems, could be completely normal to someone of a different cultural system. Therefore, I strongly believe that abnormality is behavior that causes significant distress when controlling for cultural system differences. Such behavior can stem from a variety of sources such as current or past trauma, inability to cope with stressors or threatening situations, or the inability to articulate how one feels