Abnormality

We’ll I thought I’d stop to observe the behaviour of others whilst I was on my journey to my local mall, only to discover the town is filled with crazy people! I was reading this insightful psychology book called “Body language for dummies”-Elizabeth Kuhnke. I was learning about involuntary gestures and how our body language conveys messages. Keep in mind this information was covered in the first four pages, and that this book is enlightening and will make you discover your love for psychology all over again.

 So, where was I... ok, so I’m reading my book and there’s this man sitting behind me his exterior screamed normal, sophisticated and came across as an intellectual. This may have been an involuntary gesture but every time he “coughed” or shouted or whatever it was it sounded like he was in pain. I would turn around and he was tranquilly reading his book. I had to turn around a few times to make sure I wasn’t mistaking him for someone else. I may not know all the medical terms to define the characteristics he suffered from but that was the first time I’ve observed such abnormal features. When I was done reading and taking notes I went to grab a bite to eat. I was in the mood to eat cheese burger and fries, I was innocently sitting there munching on my chips and noticed that the lady sitting in front of me got up and headed towards the door. She went over towards the door and starting moving her arms in such a motion as if she was watching an entertaining match and the team she supports was winning. Again I thought she was a typical Chav waving at her friends in such an abrupt manner. Then this behaviour became consistent, at that point everyone in the room had something to bond with, with one another. I then ran out hastily as the lady was approaching everyone. I then began to observe everyone’s behaviour and came to the conclusion that most people’s behaviour is irregular.

Abnormality, in the vivid sense of something deviating from the normal or differing from the typical (such as an aberration), is a subjectively defined behavioral characteristic, assigned to those with rare or dysfunctional conditions. Defining who is normal or abnormal is a contentious issue in abnormal psychology.

Normal is defined as “conforming to the usual standard, type, or custom.” This shows that there is no “normal.” Different cultures have different social norms therefore their usual standard varies. Individuals who have a high IQ such as 140 are known to be statistically infrequent; this is seen as an abnormality as it exceeds the usual standard. In other cultures it is “normal” to walk around nude, this deviates from our social norm as is therefore classed as an abnormality. The Failure to Function Adequately definition of abnormality defines whether or not a behavior is abnormal if it is counter-productive to the individual.

The main problem with this definition however is that psychologists cannot agree on the boundaries that define what is 'functioning' and what is 'adequately', as some behaviors that can cause 'failure to function' are not seen as bad i.e. firemen risking their lives to save people in a blazing fire. Deviation from Ideal Mental health defines abnormality by determining if the behavior the individual is displaying is affecting their mental well-being. As with the Failure to Function definition, the boundaries that stipulate what 'ideal mental health' is are not properly defined, and the bigger problem with the definition is that all individuals will at some point in their life deviate from ideal mental health, but it does not mean they are abnormal; i.e. someone who has lost a relative will be distressed, but would not be defined as abnormal for showing that particular behaviour.  On the contrary, there are some indications that some people require assistance to grieve properly.

We are all abnormal as we all deviate from the social norm in some way, such as individuals who are hyperactive, spontaneous, quirky or high maintenance.