Understanding Abnormality: Definitions, Contexts, and Historical Perspectives

Defining Normal and Abnormal Behavior

• Normal Behaviors, Thoughts, and Feelings are characterized by being:

  • Typical for the social context

  • Not distressing to the individual

  • Not interfering with social life or work/school

  • Not dangerous

  • Example: College students who are self-confident and happy, perform to their capacity in school, and have good friends.

• Typical Behaviors, Thoughts, and Feelings fall on a spectrum between normal and abnormal:

  • Somewhat unusual for the social context

  • Distressing to the individual

  • Interfering with social or occupational functioning

  • Dangerous

  • Example: College students who are often unsure and self-critical, occasionally abuse prescription drugs, fail some courses, and avoid friends who disapprove of their drug use.

• Abnormal Behaviors, Thoughts, and Feelings are characterized by being one or more of the following:

  • Highly unusual for the social context

  • The source of significant individual distress

  • Significantly interfering with social or occupational functioning

  • Highly dangerous to the individual or others

  • Example: College students who are hopeless about the future, are self-loathing, chronically abuse drugs, fail courses, and have alienated all their friends.

• The Socially Established Division between Normal and Abnormal

  • Humans often seek a definitive dividing point between normal and abnormal, but no definitive threshold exists.

  • The label (normal vs. abnormal) is directly related to:

    • The context in which behaviors occur.

    • The factors surrounding these behaviors.

    • The culture in which we live.

    • Behaviors considered normal in one culture may be abnormal in another, and vice versa.

• Identifying Abnormal Behavior

  • As humans, we are