Definitions of Abnormality - deviation from ideal mental health

Maire Jahoda -

• A pioneering Austrian-British social psychologist known for her work on community psychology, unemployment, prejudice, discrimination and positive mental health

Deviation from ideal mental health

• Abnormality defined as behaviour which fails to meet particular criteria for psychological-wellbeing

• Mental health is seen as the same as physical health

• Ideal mental health is defined by Jahoda’s 6 criteria

  • The less you meet, the more abnormal you are seen to be

Feature of ideal mental health

Positive attitude towards oneself

description

 Having self-respect and a positive self-concept that is rational and accurate.

example of feature

Being confident in yourself and your own body as well as your ability to do things in your life. Mantras in the morning. Not comparing yourself to people you see online

second feature

Self-actualisation

description

 Experiencing personal growth and development. 'Becoming everything one is capable of becoming'

example

Making mistakes and knowing you need to make them to improve, valuing learning from life

third feature

Autonomy

description

 Being independent, self-reliant and able to make personal decisions.

example

Having faith in yourself, trust in your gut, confident within yourself

fourth feature

Resisting stress

description

 Having effective coping strategies and being able to cope with everyday anxiety-provoking situations.

example

Being able to regulate your emotions and an awareness of how to deal with them, healthy coping mechanisms

fifth feature

Accurate perception of reality

description

Perceiving the world in a non-distorted fashion, Having an objective and realistic view of the world.

example

Someone leaving you on read, not reading into it too much

sixth feature

Environmental mastery

description

 Being competent in all aspects of life and able to meet the demands of any situation. Having the flexibility to adapt to changing life circumstances.

example

Being able and ready to change, expecting the unexpected

STRENGTHS

 The definition is comprehensive and covers a broad range of reasons why someone would seek help

Weaknesses

•  Context-dependent

• Cultural relativism - sets an unrealistically high standard for mental health - lots of people won't hit the criteria every day, does that make them abnormal?

Strength

P - strength is that it is highly comprehensive

E - Jahoda’s criteria includes a range of criteria for distinguishing MH from MD

This means that an individual’s MH can be discussed meaningfully with a range of professionals who might take dif. views e.g. a medically-trained psychiatrist might focus on symptoms, whereas a humanistic counseller might be more interested in self-actualisation

K - Therefore, ideal mental health provides a checklist against which we can assess ourselves + others and discuss psychological issues with range of professionals

Weakness

P - weakness of the criterion is that its different elements are not equally applicable across a range of cultures

E - some of Jahoda’s criteria for ideal mental health are firmly located in the context of the US and Europe

Concept of self-actualisation would probably be dismissed as self-indulgent in much of the world

Germany, more emphasis on independence compared to Italy

K - This means that it is difficult to apply the concept of ideal mental health from 1 culture to another

Strength

P - positive approach to mental health

E - her criteria includes things like positive attitude towards oneself, personal growth, environmental mastery

This means psychologists can assess how mentally healthy a person is rather than simply whether they have a disorder

K - Therefore, provides a more comprehensive view of mental health and a much less negative way of describing mental health, provides a better outlook on it

Weakness

P - sets a high standard

E - very few people would meet all 6 criteria for ideal mental health

e.g. it is difficult to have complete positive self-attitude, environmental mastery, resistance to stress etc. at all times

K - therefore, could be disheartening to see an impossible set of standards to live up to