Determining What Is Normal Behavior and What Is Not

Too much “normality” can be boring, but boredom is a kind of suffering, which can be considered “not normal”. The criteria for mental illness are vague, subjective and open to misinterpretation criteria. Freud also believed that early childhood experiences and unconscious motivationwere responsible for disorders. According to this approach, the more of these criteria are satisfied, the healthier the individual is. Social norms can also depend on the situation or context we find ourselves in. In 1972 a rugby team who survived a plane crash in the snow-capped Andes of South America found themselves without food and in sub-freezing temperatures for 72 days.

The DSM is a central element of the debate around defining normality, and it continues to change and evolve. Specifically, the goal of the DSM-5 is to identify abnormal behavior that is indicative of some kind of psychological disorder. The DSM identifies the specific criteria used when diagnosing patients; it represents the industry standard for psychologists and psychiatrists, who often work together to diagnose and treat psychological disorders.

Social norms

DSM-III was a best attempt to credit psychiatry as a scientific discipline from the opprobrium resulting from DSM-II. A reduction in the psychodynamic etiologies of DSM-II spilled over into a reduction symptom etiology altogether. Thus, DSM-III was a specific set of definitions for mental illnesses, and entities more suited to diagnostic psychiatry, but which annexed response proportionality as a classification factor. The product was that all symptoms, whether normal proportional response or inappropriate pathological tendencies, could both be treated as potential signs of mental illness. The United States, Ireland, and Poland have more conservative social understanding of sexuality among university students, while Scandinavian students consider a wider variety of sexual acts as normal.

• It may also be just being average, as is the case in psychological statistics.
• Between the concepts of what constitutes as Normal behavior and abnormal behavior, we can identify certain differences.
• Whereas, a person with abnormality psychology has fluctuation of emotions or feelings that leads to irritation and breakdown, and it does not last for a longer period of time.
• In many countries, perceptions on sexuality are largely becoming more liberal, especially views on the normality of masturbation and homosexuality.
• For the early positivists such as August Comte and Emile Durkheim, uncovering the existence of social norms was central to their early positivist sociology.
• The criteria for mental illness are vague, subjective and open to misinterpretation criteria.

A stigma is the societal disapproval and judgment of a person or group of people because they do not fit their community’s social norms. In the context of mental illness, social stigma is characterized as prejudiced attitudes and discriminatory behavior directed toward individuals with mental illness as a result of the label they have been given. In the United States, people are often pressured to be “normal”—or at least perceived as such—in order to gain what is normal behavior in psychology acceptance by society. Many people in the 18th and 19th century advocated for more human treatment of people with mental disorders, but harsh, punitive, and ineffective treatments continued into the first half of the 20th century. The year 1946 brought about significant change in the field of abnormal psychology in the US. During this year, the National Institute of Mental Health was founded and began providing training through psychiatric residencies.

History of the DSM

It can lead to extreme isolation and fear of common experiences like riding public transit or being outside alone. Social Anxiety Disorder describes a situation in which a person experiences significant anxiety about being humiliated, rejected, or embarrassed in social situations. An interesting aspect of abnormal psychology is how common some of these abnormalities actually are. We are acquainted with the great movement which has swept all over biological, sociological, and economical sciences due to the influence of the theory of evolution. The spirit of free inquiry into fundamental concepts has seized on all sciences Throughout the whole domain of human thought there is felt this rejuvenating and invigorating breath of the new revolutionary spirit.

A person with normality psychology has a healthy and good peace of mind that lasts for a longer period of time. Whereas, a person with abnormality psychology has fluctuation of emotions or feelings that leads to irritation and breakdown, and it does not last for a longer period of time. Normality psychology syntoms includes normal behaviour, ability to cope up with the environment, usual or normal thinking capability, etc. Whereas, abnormality psychology syntoms includes feeling sad or low, anxiety, excessive mood swings, confusion, laziness, tiredness, etc. In today’s world mental peace and stability has become a very important aspect of an individual’s life. In simple words, normality is something that is good and abnormality is something that is bad. Normality and Abnormality Psychology is used to describe someone’s behaviour, nature, thoughts, feelings, emotions, etc.

Statistical Infrequency

Classification of mental health disorders can be viewed as stigmatizing and often does not take any cultural influences into account. As stated before, there is no actual definition of what ”normal” is; so how can one say what is abnormal? Furthermore, the vague definition of normal could cause misdiagnosis in clients, resulting in prescribed medications that could do more harm than good. The medical approach often fails to take a holistic approach and only focuses on biological and genetic factors. From the medical perspective, biological factors are focused on when diagnosing an abnormal psychological disorder. Traits that are genetic, hormonal imbalances, infections and physical illnesses are all considered in developing a diagnosis and treatment plan, which often includes medication.

Abnormal psychology is a division of psychology that studies people who are “abnormal” or “atypical” compared to the members of a given society. A close analysis of various types of abnormal behaviour indicates that abnormal behaviour circumscribes a wide range of maladaptive reactions like psychoneuroses, psychoses, delinquents, sexually deviants, and drug addicts etc. I strongly recommend this article be edited to approach the “normality” vs. “abnormality” paradigm by more neutral means, because the way it is currently written is clearly biased against disabled people. Normality usually leads to healthy state of mind and living while abnormalities may lead to mental or emotional distress. Normality is being able to cope with and having appropriate coping mechanisms with the stresses of everyday life, being able to work, to interact with other people and to establish and maintain relationships. Statistical normality is important in determining demographic pathologies. When a variable rate, such as virus spread within a human population, exceeds its normal infection rate, then preventative or emergency measures can be introduced.

Difference between Normality and Abnormality

When dealing with abnormal behavior, a behavioral therapist might utilize strategies such as classical conditioning and operant conditioning to help eliminate unwanted behaviors and teach new behaviors. It may violate social norms and make it difficult for people to function in social settings and maintain social relationships. A peron with normality psychology gets a positive response from others. Whereas, a person with abnormality psychology gets a negative response or behaviour from others. Normality psychology refers to an individual’s behaviour, thoughts, emotion, etc which is usual or normal. Whereas, abnormality psychology refers to an indidual’s behaviour, thoughts, emotion, etc which is unsual or abnormal.

The information on this page is not intended to be a substitution for diagnosis, treatment, or informed professional advice. You should not take any action or avoid taking any action without consulting with a qualified mental health professional. “Comparison of Normal and Abnormal Psychology.” IvyPanda, 20 Aug. 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/abnormal-psychology-5/.

DSM-II labelled ‘excessive’ behavioral and emotional response as an index of abnormal mental wellness to diagnose some particular disorders. ‘Excessiveness’ of a reaction implied alternative normal behavior which would have to include a situational factor in evaluation. As an example, a year of intense grief from the death of a spouse may be a normal appropriate response. To have intense grief for twenty years would be indicative of a mental disorder.

Although some attempts have been made to define sexual acts as normal, abnormal, or indeterminate, these definitions are time-sensitive. Gayle Rubin’s 1980s model of sexual ‘normality’ was comprehensive at the time but has since become outdated as society has liberalized. What is viewed as normal can change dependent on both timeframe and environment. Instead of using descriptive norms, more effective social norms marketing https://business-accounting.net/ may use injunctive norms which, instead of describing the most common behavior, outline what is approved or disapproved of by society. When individuals become aware of the injunctive norm, only the extremes will change their behavior without the boomerang effect of under-indulgers increasing their drinking. An individual’s behaviors are guided by what they perceive to be society’s expectations and their peers’ norms.