WHAT IS ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR:Dysfunction, Distress, Danger

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Abnormal Psychology PSY404

LESSON 2

WHAT IS ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR

Difficulty in defining Abnormality

In this era of rapid technological advancement, you might think there would be some objective test like a

blood test or a like a brain scan that could determine whether an individual is normal or abnormal?

There is no such test available; however psychologists rely on signs, symptoms, and subjective criteria for

deciding when the observed symptoms (signs) constitute abnormality. Four criteria for defining abnormality

have been proposed. They are often called the four D's, Deviance, Distress, Dysfunction and Danger.

Deviant behavior means different extreme unusual and bizarre

Distress refers to unpleasant or upsetting behavior of an individual

Dysfunctional or disruptive in a way that possibly can became dangerous as well

Danger of hurting one self and others

1. Deviance

a. Deviance from the Cultural Norms

b. Deviance from the Statistical Norms

a. Deviance from Cultural Norms

Every culture has certain standards, norms and yardsticks for acceptable behaviors and behavior that

deviates or differs markedly from those norms is considered abnormal. The followers of Cultural Criteria

perspective argue that we should respect each culture's definition of abnormality for the members of that

culture. By doing so we do not impose one culture's standards for behavior on another. The concept of

abnormality changes over time, within the same society. Forty years ago, most Americans would have

considered men wearing earrings as abnormal but today it's considered as differences in lifestyle rather than

as signs of abnormality differ from one society to another and over time within the same society.

b. Deviance from Statistical Norms

The word abnormal means away from the normal or away from the norm. Many characteristics such as

height, weight and intelligence cover a range of values, when measured over an entire population. Most

people for example fall within the middle range of height and few are abnormally tall or short. Abnormal

behavior is statistically infrequent or deviant from the norm. A person who is extremely intelligent or happy

would be classified as abnormal while defining Abnormal Behavior we must consider more than the

statistical frequency.

Dysfunction

Abnormal behavior tends to interfere with daily functioning. It so upsets, distracts or confuses its victims

that they cannot care for themselves properly.

Example

An individual quits his job, leaves his family and prepares to withdraw from the productive and meaningful

life in order to live in an empty isolated distant apartment where he feels comfortable and satisfied. So this

dysfunctional behavior indicates psychological abnormality.

A behavior is abnormal if its maladaptive that is if it has adverse effects on the individual or on Society. A

man who is fearful of crowds that he cannot board in the bus to work.

Abnormal Psychology PSY404

3. Distress

The individuals' subjective feelings of pain, anxiety, depression, agitation, disturbance in sleep, loss of

appetite, numerous aches and pains. Most people who are diagnosed with a mental disorder feel entirely

miserable while they may appear normal to the observer.

4. Danger

Psychological dysfunctioning is behavior that becomes dangerous to oneself or others. A pattern of

functioning that is marked by carelessness, poor judgment, hostility or misinterpretations can jeopardize

one's own wellbeing and that of many other people as well. A person may seem to be endangering himself

by being least bothered about his diet and health and for others by his collection of arms and guns.

None of these four criteria provide a satisfactory description of abnormal behavior, in most cases; all four

criteria are used in diagnosing abnormality. All mental health professionals and public judge abnormality by

practical consideration of

What is Abnormal Behavior?

By what criteria do we distinguish abnormal behavior from normal behavior?

The content of the behavior (what a person does?) The content of behavior that causes discomfort,

appears weird, and is inefficient.

b. The context of the behavior (where and when the person does it?) Does the individual display the

behavior in public or privately.

With regard to content, behavior is likely to be judged abnormal by society if it causes

Discomfort

ii.

Appears bizarre or weird

iii.

Is dysfunctional (distracts, upsets)

People will tolerate a considerable amount of discomfort even bizarreness in themselves and others if the

behavior is not so frequent or disruptive that it interferes with the demands of everyday life e.g. a successful

businessman was found to have lined all his clothes with newspapers to protect himself against harmful

radiation from alien's spaceship. Every one of his office thought that this was bizarre behavior.--

The second criteria used in the practical approach is context where and when the behavior occurs. How

would you feel if you were asked to enter a room and stare everybody who was attending a party or to tell

jokes at a funeral? You would hesitate. It is because you recognize that these actions would be in

appropriate to the situation and your behavior will be labeled as abnormal. According to the second criteria

of context of behavior (where and when the behavior takes place) --

What is Normality?

Normality is even more difficult to define as compared to Abnormality

What is Normality?

Normality refers to adjustment.

The traits or characteristics of well adjusted individuals or mentally healthy individuals or psychologically

well adjusted individual is reflected by the followings:

Abnormal Psychology PSY404

1. Appropriate perception of reality. Normal individuals are realistic in appraising their reactions,

capabilities, and in interpreting in what is going on in the world around them. They do not

misinterpret what others say or so they do not overate or underestimate their abilities. They do not

avoid difficult tasks.

2. Ability to exercise voluntary control over behavior. Normal individuals feel confident about their

ability to control their behavior.

3. They rarely act impulsively and refrain from aggressive behavior.

4. Self Esteem and Acceptance: Normal people have appreciation of their own worth and they feel

accepted by those around them. Feelings of worthlessness, alienation and lack of acceptance are

prevalent among abnormal.

5. Ability to form affectionate relationships. Normal individual are able to form close and satisfying

relationships with other people. They are sensitive to the feelings of others and do not make

excessive demands on others. Abnormal individuals are extremely self centered; they seek affection

but are unable to reciprocate.

6. Productivity: Well adjusted people are able to channel their abilities into productive activity. They

do not suffer from lack of energy and they do experience excessive fatigue.

Defining Psychological Disorders

Psychological Disorder is a psychological dysfunction with in an individual that is associated with distress or

impairment in functioning and a response that is not typical or culturally expected.

Psychological dysfunction refers to a breakdown in cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning of the

individual. A schizophrenic individual exhibits breakdown of cognitive (thinking), emotional (feeling) or

behavioral (action) functions.

The disorder or behavior must be associated with distress and impairment. It is quite normal to be

distressed or upset, if someone close to you dies. This distress and impairment makes you unable to

function socially i.e. that is an individual attempts to avoids friends, relatives and even work colleagues.

The criterion, that the response be a typical or not culturally expected. At times, something is considered

abnormal because it occurs infrequently it deviates from the average say when someone is extremely short

or tall or eccentric. So we can conclude that behavioral, emotional or cognitive dysfunction that is

unexpected in a culture and associated with personal distress or impairment in functioning is abnormal

(Jerome Wakefield. 1992, 1997).

SO LET US SEE HOW MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS STUDY ABNORMALITY

There are two guidelines for defining abnormality used by mental health professionals.

Guidelines for defining Abnormality

Impaired

Functioning

Diagnostic and

Statistical Manual

(DSM-IV-TR)

Abnormal Psychology PSY404

1. Impaired Functioning

A judgment about a behavior or an experience which causes impaired functioning i.e. difficulty in

performing appropriate and expected roles. Judgment about the impairment can be made in reference to the

person's context, the back ground of behavior, the person's age, and gender, historical, social and cultural

background of the behavior.

2. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual DSM-IV-TR

Another judgment about determining abnormality is whether a person's behavior fit expert professional

rules for specific diagnosis. These rules are stated in the diagnostic and statistical manual, 4th Edition,

revision called DSM-IV-TR. This system is used around the world for classifying psychological disorders

and problems. The world health organization (WHO) publishes another manual used worldwide, the

international classification of diseases (ICD) which is similar in many respects to the DSM-IV-TR Manual.

DSM IV-TR has five diagnostic axes

Let us study the examples using these two guidelines

Example H

H was a conscientious and reliable secretary in a business office. She was cheerful and easygoing. Now she

has missed many days of work and has to force herself to go to the office. At home she prefers to be alone

away from her husband and children. She has nightmares and wakes up screaming at night. A year ago she

was working late in her office; a stranger entered the building, found H alone, and robbed her at gunpoint.

H was traumatized by the event and for days H could not go to work at her office.

The case H clearly has impaired functioning and with the help of DSM IV-TR she is diagnosed as

suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD.

Neurosis is a term no more used now we use the term Anxiety disorders it refers to mild types of mental

disorder in which the person has contact with reality but its one area of his life which is problematic.

PSYCHOSIS is a general term that refers to several types of severe mental disorder in which the person is

considered to be out of contact with reality.

What is meant by Psychopathology?

The term Psychopathology is the scientific study of Psychological disorders. There are three major

categories of concepts that make up the study and discussion of Psychological disorder.

Abnormal Psychology PSY404

Clinical Description

Study of Psychological

Causation Etiology

disorder

Treatment and

Outcome

The Clinical description represents the unique combination of behaviors, thoughts and feelings that make a

specific disorder. The word clinical refers to types of problems or disorders that you find in a clinic or

hospital and especially with activities connected with assessment and treatment.

The clinical description of a disorder is further elaborated by the concepts of

Prevalence

Incidence

Clinical

Description of a

disorder

Sex Ratio

Course

A Chronic

B Episodic

Prognosis

C Time Limited

D Acute

A Good

E Insidious

B Guarded

Prevalence refers to how many people in the population as a whole have the disorder? The figure or

number of cases is called the prevalence of the disorder.

Incidence means how many new cases occur during a given period of time, say in a year?

Sex Ratio means what percentage of males and females have the disorder? And the typical age of onset

which often differs from one disorder to another.

Course refers to somewhat individual pattern that most disorders follow or take. Schizophrenia (a

Psychotic disorder) follows a chronic course which tends to last a longtime, sometimes a whole lifetime.

Abnormal Psychology PSY404

Episodic Course

Mood disorders (say depression) follow an episodic course in which an individual is likely to recover within

a few months and a reoccurrence of the disorder at a later time. Time limited course means that the

disorder will improve without treatment in short period of time.

Some disorders have sudden acute onset while some disorders develop generally over an extended period of

time having an insidious onset.

Prognosis refers to chances of improvement of the disorder, so when we say that "prognosis" is "good", it

means that the individual will improve ( more chances of improvement),while the statement that

"prognosis" is "guarded" means that the probable outcome does not looks good (less chances of

improvement)

Developmental

Psychology

Behavior

(A study of children)

Changes

Developmental

Psychopathology

(A study of adolescents,

adults and older adults)

Life Span Developmental

Psychopathology

(A study across whole

life span)

The study of changes in behavior overtime refers to science developmental psychology while the study of

changes in abnormal behavior forms the discipline of developmental psychopathology (A relatively new and

challenging field)

The study of behavior across the entire age span is referred as Life Span Developmental Psychopathology.

Abnormal Psychology PSY404

Psychological

Etiology (Description

Disorder

of symptoms)

Causation

A. Biological

B. Psychological

C. Social

Treatment Approach

Psychodynamic

Cognitive

Behavioral

Humanistic

The Etiology or study of origins has to do why a disorder begins (what causes it) and it includes the

biological, psychological and social dimensions.

Treatment /Intervention/Therapy can be during a medication or psychosocial treatment such as

Psychodynamic, cognitive, behavior or humanistic therapy. The triad approach of Etiology, the causation,

and the treatment of disorder is currently used.

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