Psychology
Abnormal behavior can be defined as a person or individual who has lost or distorts their reality. This definition is shallow and does not make an effort to include humanistic parameters. Albee (1959) defined a mental disorder as an unusually persistent pattern of behavior over which the individual has little or no voluntary control; it categorizes them from the society; it refrains them and distorts their participation with normal day to day life. Mental normality or healthy for me is nearly impossible to come up with a definition. Medically, they perceive abnormal behavior as the presence of a number of symptoms which lead the individual to depart from the normal and causes profound harm to the individual. The problem with this is that mental illness cannot be compared to a physical disease; making medication difficult to apply. My opinion is that mental disorders can be defined by an individuals recognizable pattern of behavior. (Kutchins & Kirk, 2003)
This is because there are certain functional disorders such as mood, attitudes and traits that can undermine a mental illness. This definition allows for the diverse criteria and positions regarding mental health as well as stating that there is no immediate designation from normality to abnormality but monitoring of a pattern. This is where maladaptive and adaptive behaviors come in. Maladaptive behavior can be explained by behaviors that interfere with a person’s capability to adjust to certain situations for example:
- Workaholism: it is where the person becomes excessively devoted to their job. It is another way of coping with unpleasant aspects in life.
- Attention seeking behaviors: which comes in when an individual exerts excessive force in order to command attention.
- Communication (socializing with others, using a cellphone)
- Self sustainability (hygiene ,eating, grooming)
DSM-5 has helped with this approach by classifying mental disorders. The coding system used is designed to determine and aid in portraying a patient’s diagnosis after an evaluation that requires a ‘five axis’. They include:
- Clinical description
- Elimination of other studies
- Follow up study
- Family study
The mental institutions set up by health professionals has helped to curb the situation by offering adequate medical and counseling services that have been successful over the years. The public has also taken a forefront in this by reporting cases of mental disorders to the appropriate agencies.
References
Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2007). Applied behavior analysis (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Merrill-Prentice Hall.
Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5. (5th ed.). (2013). Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association.
Landsberg, G. M. (2014). Behavior. London: Elsevier Health Sciences.
