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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.

2. 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.

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?

a.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

i. 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:

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.

1.  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.

2.  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)

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, 4^th 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.

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

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.

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 (A study of children)

Developmental Psychopathology (A study of adolescents, adults and older adults)

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.

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.

Psychological Disorder

Etiology (Description of symptoms)

Causation

A. Biological

B. Psychological

C. Social

Treatment Approach

A. Psychodynamic

B. Cognitive

C. Behavioral

D. Humanistic