Mental Abnormalities

Sarah Stapley                                                                 18-03-13
Psychological Abnormality

People have tried for thousands of years to understand and define abnormal behavior. In the past 100 years it has undergone `tremendous change, progress and controversy` (Hansell & Damour. 2009).
There is no clear precise definition for abnormal. Cultural, subcultural and personal preference can seemingly be abnormal to some but, these differences more often than not have no physically problematic impact upon others and thus are considered different not abnormal. Ex: A homosexual relationship, sub cultural music and dress code or a religious act of not eating certain foods.                                 Abnormal Psychology is a scientific discipline, in which a medical professional acquires information on a person`s behavior and then measures the behavior to a hypothesize as a means to understand the cause and then how to treat.                                                                                     For a medical professional to diagnose a patient with having a mental abnormality He/She must first respectfully negotiate a deviation from the `norm` their patient has from that of the average population. Ex: Going against society`s accepted codes of behavior - Although this is not always so much a psychological abnormality in every case and would need further investigation. Ex: Stealing for fun or stealing because of an impulse or a felt need in which to do so.                                                                                                                                                                                       Psychological Abnormality is thus defined upon a person`s inability or failure to function adequately personally and or socially. Ex: An inability to hold down a job or maintain social relationships.
Diagnostic criteria for mental disorders are essentially descriptions of symptoms that fall into four...