Abnormal Psychology



Abnormal Psychology

Thesis Statement: Behaviour can be defined as abnormal when behaviour is socially unacceptable

Introduction

Abnormal behavior' can be defined as behavior which is unusual, socially unacceptable, dangerous to themselves or others, or whether a person is in a significant amount of personal distress. However, each of these must be defined individually and the cultural background must always be taken into account. Although there is a continuum along which everyone will at some point suffer depressed moods, several different criteria must be taken into account before deciding whether the depressed mood a person may be suffering from is abnormal or not. The cause of the depressed mood also varies due to the many different paradigms, which have branched out, from psychology over the last few decades and even centuries. The psychoanalytic and biological paradigms are two paradigms, which address the cause of depressed moods very differently.

Discussion

There are many different criteria which have been developed in today's societies which together, determine what is considered 'normal' behaviour and what is considered 'abnormal' behaviour. However, these criteria vary enormously across different societies and cultures.

We can also define behaviour as abnormal when behaviour is socially unacceptable. Every society has a set of 'social norms', standards which have been developed through religious beliefs and cultural practises. These social norms define what is generally considered and accepted as a normal and proper way to behave in a particular society(Pinel, 2000). If a person violates these social norms, then they are likely to exhibit behaviour which can be obtrusive and offensive to the average person in a society.

From the perspective of the Psychoanalytic paradigm, we would say that the depressed mood a person is suffering from could be caused by psychological conflicts which generally originate from childhood experiences. These conflicts in childhood can lead to a distorted view of ourselves and how we relate to others. Someone suffering from depressed mood may have an extreme case of this distorted view which could lead to a low self esteem or relationship conflicts. Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) (a newer model of psychotherapy which has emerged from the interpersonal school of psychodynamic therapy) would say that depressed mood could be caused due to role conflicts in relationships. If there is a lack of understanding of the issues that underlie these conflicts, this could contribute to an inability to be able to resolve them(Nevid, 2000). Depending on the situation, causes of depressed mood could be due to unresolved or delayed grief reactions. For example, a person could suffer depressed mood following the death of a loved one perhaps because they feel they had unresolved issues with the deceased or cannot accept that the loved one is no longer with them (resulting in delayed grief ). Unresolved issues could be issues which have stayed in the 'unconscious' and may have started to surface in the person suffering the depressed mood only now that the person who was close to them has deceased. The person suffering from depressed mood may uncover ...