Failure to function adequately and statistical infrequency

Failure to function adequately

Occurs when someone is unable to cope with the ordinary demands of day-to-day living

Statistical infrequency

Occurs when an individual has a less common characteristic e.g. more depressed or less intelligent than most of the population.

Rosenhan and Seligman 1989

Proposed additional signs that can be used to see if someone isn’t functioning adequately:

• When someone no longer conforms to interpersonal rules e.g. maintaining eye contact when speaking.

• When someone experiences severe distress

• When someone’s behaviour is irrational or dangerous to others.

What statistics tell us about abnormality

Relatively usual behaviour is classed as healthy but unusual behaviour is classed as unhealthy.

E.g. A small number of people having an irrational fear of buttons is seen as unusual and therefore would be classed as unhealthy

FTFA S Recognises subjective experience of the patient

People who seek clinical help believe that their psychological problems interfere with their ability to function. The person would have to think their behaviour is abnormal before seeking help.

This definition allows mental disorders to be regarded from the perception of the individuals suffering them, supporting the theory.

FTFA W Decision may be dependent on others

In some cases, people recognise that their behaviour is undesirable and can seek clinical help.

However, some people may be unaware that their behaviour is undesirable and other people will have to judge it for them. Whether their behaviour is abnormal is dependent on who makes the judgement and the context of the situation

Therefore, it can be open to subjectivity

FTFA W Open to abuse

It can be hard to say if someone really fails to function adequately or if they have chosen to deviate from social/cultural norms. e.g. people who do high-risk leisure activities or people who live “off-grid”

This means that people who make unusual choices could be diagnosed with a mental health condition and their freedom could be restricted.

SI S Usefulness

It is used in clinical practice for formal diagnosis and for assessing the severity of someone’s symptoms.

A diagnosis of an intellectual disability disorder requires an IQ < 70.

The value of the statistical infrequency criterion is used in diagnostic and assessment processes.

SI W Subjective cut-off point

A symptom of depression is difficulty sleeping. The definition of this would have to be decided by lots of people. Their definitions may vary between different people.

This suggests that what is considered abnormal may be different based on the person defining it.

SI W Some abnormal behaviours are desirable

High IQ is rare but desirable

Depression is common but undesirable.

SI to define abnormality suggests that we are unable to distinguish between what is and isn’t desriable.

There needs to be a way of identifying undesirable behaviours