What is normal? Flashcards
Why do we need to define what is normal and what isn’t?
This means that we are able to spot people who may be harmful to themselves or to others
What are the 5 main features of normal behaviour?
➢ Statistically frequent ➢ Positive bias to society/personally ➢ Socially normal ➢ Does not lead to personal distress or harmful dysfunction ➢ Expected and appropriate
What are the 5 main features of abnormal behaviour?
➢ Statistically infrequent ➢ Negative bias to society/personally ➢ Socially deviant ➢ Leads to personal distress and harmful dysfunction ➢ Unexpected and inappropriate
Grouping people makes it easier to…….
diagnose and treat them
If someone has a specific disorder then we can also infer what their…. will be like
behaviour
How can we use normal distribution curves to categorise people?
We have the mean level of behaviour, which is considered the normal person then we can judge how many SDs people are away from this mean and then classify them with labels depending which direction and how far from the mean they are
We use the DSM5 and the … which is the European equivalent
ICD
What are the criticisms of the DSM5?
- over keen to find new disordes with little evidence
- over emphasis on biological factors so overlooks other causes
- certain disorders simply give justification for antisocial behaviour
- Co morbid/ symptom overlap
What study shows stigma affecting how people view people?
Rosenhan 1973, Sane in insane places study showed nurses classified all the normal behaviour displayed by fake patients as schizophrenic symptoms due to this label
The three types of stigma and who described them
Ben zeev et al 2010
- self stigma
- public stigma
- label avoidance
What is self stigma?
Individuals lose self esteem as they fear other people are viewing them negatively
What is public stigma?
This is where large groups of people hold stereotypical views of a group and respond to them negatively
What is label avoidance?
This is where people avoid seeking help as they don’t want to be labelled with a disorder
What is a mental health disorder?
- cliincally significant disturbance in an individuals cognition,emotional regulation or behaviour that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological or developmental processes underlying mental functioning
- significant distress in social, occupation or other
Is depression or similar disorders always a mental health disorder?
No, sometimes it is a normal response to a stressful event like grieving, it is when i surpasses normal levels it becomes a disorder
What is abnormality in terms of statistical infrequency?
- differs largely from the normal level
- rare occurrences
- statistically rare and therefore abnormal
issues using the statistical infrequency definition of abnormality
- where does normal begin and end?
- only concerned with certain extremes and not others
What is abnormality when defined in terms of social deviance?
- behaving in a way that makes others uncomfortable as it does not conform to our norms
- inappropriate
- cultural variations
- unexpected
- not interacting well with the rest of society
What are psychological universals?
Core mental attributes shared by humans everywhere
Abnormality defined by personal distress/ harmful functions?
creates distress in the person or affects their life adversely. Leads to failure to function normally.
Issue with the personal distress definition of abnormality?
Often the distress doesn’t occur until the diagnosis is given
Often people are in denial about their condition and don’t realise the harm they are doing
unexpected/ inappropriate behaviour definition of abnormality
unexpected or inappropriate reaction to an event
List the 4 definitions o abnormality
- statistical infrequnecy
- social deviance
- personal distress/harmful function
- unexpected/ inappropriate behaviour
