Abnormality

Question 1

Deviation from social norms (3)

Answer 1

Behaviour doesn’t follow accepted social patterns or rules - violation seen as abnormal and unacceptable - example - vary between culture and time - collective judgements made by society - explicit like laws or implicit like social morals

Question 2

Social norms eval

Answer 2

• Some people have naturally odd behaviour but not mentally ill, and some infractions are not to be worried about - e.g speeding
• Context required
  + Distinguishes normal vs abnormal so helps identify and minimise abnormal or dangerous behaviour
• Cultural and time based

Question 3

Failure to function adequately

Answer 3

Unable to deal with demands of everyday life - assessed via global assessment of functioning scale (GAF) and 7 SUMOVIV criteria

Question 4

SUMOVIV criteria

Answer 4

Suffering, Unpredictability and loss of control,Maladaptiveness, Observer discomfort, Vividness and unconventionality, Irrationality, Violation of moral and ideal standards

Question 5

Failure to function eval

Answer 5

• People without those features could still function adequately e.g Ted Bundy
• Subjective - difficult to measure - not objective or scientific
• Sometimes normal to be e.g suffering or personal distress e.g grieving
  + recognises patients own perspective and mental health - help diagnosis
  + GAF to assess degree of abnormality - could be linked to objective values like school attendance/ grades

Question 6

Statistical infrequency

Answer 6

Behaviour that is numerically uncommon - plot a normal distribution curve - both extremes are uncommon so abnormal - e.g scores above 130 or below 70 - relies on up to date data

Question 7

Statistical infrequency eval

Answer 7

+ Some abnormality can be good e.g genius IQ so not all negative, maybe desirable
+ Objective and scientific data so easy to link to help requirements e.g cognitive disability
- Unviable with hard to collect or outdated data
- Involves labelling which affects self esteem and problematic - could also cause others to look at them negatively
- Subjective cutoff points required e.g IQ 70 and 71 - who/ how decides?
- Not satisfactory on its own - maybe pair with failure to function as a holistic definition

Question 8

Deviation from ideal mental health

Answer 8

Derived from humanist approach - motivation for self development - Jahoda wanted 6 criteria for positive mental health and if you dont meet it you are abnormal - because normal people should strive to better themselves - self actualisation

Question 9

APPIES criteria

Answer 9

Autonomy, Perception of reality, Personal growth, Integration( resistance to stress), Environmental mastery, Self attitude

Question 10

Ideal mental health eval

Answer 10

+ Positive and productive as it focuses on positive criteria - therapeutic goal to achieve
+ Highlight areas of disfunction to focus on - e.g lack of self attitudes links to depression
- Problematic and subjective - how much of each criteria is healthy
- Sometimes lacking a criteria would be normal e.g low self esteem after a breakup
-Cultural bias e.g autonomy is seen as less important in Eastern collectivist cultures