“Diagnosis and classification of atypical psychological behaviour is difficult because atypical behaviour never has a single cause”.
Introduction
Abnormal psychology is a branch in psychology that deals with unusual patterns of behaviour in individuals. Abnormality has been defined as any deviation from what is deemed as the normal standard. On the other hand, normal is what is conserved usual according to the expected standards. However, the classification of abnormal behaviour in psychology is marked with various complexities owing to the several approaches that have been devised to assess typical and atypical psychological behaviour.
Definitions
According to statistical infrequency, atypical behaviour refers to the deviations from the average statistics that are used to evaluate behaviour. In this case, anything that deviates from the normal statistics is considered to be abnormal behaviour. For instance, many human attributes tend to fall in a normal distribution curve. Those attributes that fall extraordinarily away from the normal distribution are considered to be atypical. In the second approach which is failure to function adequately (Butcher et al. 25). Here abnormality is defined as the inability of an individual to cope with everyday life. In this regard, an individual lacks the capability to interact with others, maintain social relationships, express themselves properly or even maintain a working relationship. In addition to social dysfunction abnormality, in this case, is characterized by failure to function adequately showing symptoms such as suffering, maladaptiveness, loss of control, incomprehensibility, violation of moral standards and general suffering.
With regard to deviation from ideal mental health, the definition provided is that which is perceived to be normal. All that deviates from this idea is regarded as abnormal. In this approach, six criteria for the assessment of mental health were developed. Mental health is defined by the ability of an individual to meet the criteria. The criteria include the mastery of the environment, the ability to maintain positive friendships, capability for growth and development, positive perception of self, the accurate perception of reality and the concept of autonomy and independence. However, the six criteria are only based on the western ideals of self-fulfillment (Butcher et al. 28).
The fourth approach used to define atypical and typical behaviour is the deviation from social norms. Norms in society can be defined as the expected ways of behaving in society. In this regard, a person who goes against the expected codes of behaviour in society is regarded as abnormal. A social norm is that behavior that is considered to be acceptable in a given situation (Spitzer et al. 119). Therefore, people whose behaviors are incomprehensible to others or make others feel threatened or uncomfortable is regarded as atypical.
The DSM and models of abnormal behavior
The underlying principle is the fact that abnormal conditions show probable signs and symptoms of other diseases and pathologies. However, psychological conditions do not have a definitive cause. Rather there is a close interaction of other factors such as social biological and psychological factors all acting together to result in a condition. The term psychological condition is used instead of a mental condition and is considered to be more appropriate in the context of psychology.
For all the classifications systems to be reliable there is the need for them to ensure that they achieve similar diagnostic conclusions. Therefore, challenges may arise in using the approaches of assessing a client. The first challenge in classification of psychological disorders is the challenges. The reasoning behind this is the fact that a particular disorder is interpreted differently in different cultures. The presence of diverse cultures in the society makes it difficult to have elaborate and fixed standards that can be sued to classify the normal and abnormal behaviours (Spitzer et al. 119). Indeed each society has established cultural standards that define typical and atypical behaviour. In this regard, it is difficult for individuals in a particular society to conform to other societies beliefs. The severity and development of psychological disorders is different for all the societies. In this case, cultural relativism is one major factor that limits the assessment of psychological disorders.
Biological explanation to mental disorders
Mental illnesses may arise from aberrations in the normal functioning of nerves, nerve circuits, and particular brain regions. Other biological factors have been implicated in the development of psychological conditions. For instance, with regard to genetics people who have mental conditions running in the family have a high likelihood of developing the same conditions. Susceptibility to development of the conditions is passed on to generations through genes. The genetic abnormalities occur in several genes and not in a single gene. Therefore, there is the possibility of an individual inheriting a susceptibility but does not develop the condition. In this regard, the occurrence of the condition occurs as the interplay of several factors in conjunction with the dysfunctional gene (Spitzer et al. 115). Such factors as abuse, stress and traumatic events can influence and trigger a person who is already predisposed to the mental illness.
Another biological explanation of the occurrence of the psychological conditions is through the development of infections which culminate in brain damage. Some conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorders are linked to streptococcus bacterial infection. Also, another biological basis in the development of psychological conditions includes brain defects and injury, substance abuse which has been linked to the development of depression and anxiety. Poor nutrition is also linked to various conditions such as consumption of lead and other metals. Finally, prenatal damage and abnormal development of the fetal brain as well as other trauma causes may lead to the development of mental conditions in childhood such as autism spectrum disorders.
The psychodynamic approach to mental illnesses is based on the premise of the unconscious mind particularly in childhood experience which may contribute to the development of mental conditions. The psychodynamic approach was developed with regard to the treatment of conditions such as depression. The theories of the psychodynamic approach are based on the interaction of the forces of the unconscious in relation to the structures of personality. Some of the assumptions used in psychodynamic theories are that the unconscious mind comprises of various processes that cannot be accessed by consciousness and which have a play in the judgments, behaviors, and feelings of individuals. According to Freud's psychodynamic theory, the unconscious mind is the main source of human behaviour (Sue 55). In this regard, the behaviours, feelings, and judgments are based on childhood experiences. Therefore, individuals who had a traumatic childhood may be affected by the childhood memories affecting their thinking and perceptions of the world. An example of such a condition is depression.
The cognitive explanation of occurrence of mental disorders is based on dysfunctional thinking patterns that are demonstrated by affected individuals. Such individuals tend to exhibit unusual thinking patterns that are characterized by interpersonal thinking problems. An example of such problems includes suspicious thinking. An example of such a disorder is paranoid personality disorder where the affected misinterpret what others say, become hostile, aggressive and leading a high level of hostility and anxiety. Other conditions that are related to dysfunctional abilities of individuals include the narcissistic personality disorder where an individual shows distorted thinking in terms of over-idealizing themselves to completely devaluing themselves. Other conditions are schizotypal personality disorders, borderline personality disorder, and avoidant personality disorder. In this regard, the pattern of thinking can affect how an individual thinks or behaves. In diagnosis, an individual with a personality disorder that is related to cognition demonstrates more than one characteristic.
Several approaches have been developed with the aim of defining either atypical or typical psychological conditions. The relevance of the approaches is the application of by psychologists in distinguishing between normal and abnormal behaviors. The difference in approaches developed presents various problems such as cultural relativism, diagnostic problems. More so the different approaches may lead to addition and removal of diagnostic conditions with regard to various criteria. The overall impact of the differences is changes and misunderstanding in the pharmaceutical industry and drug administration. All psychological conditions, however, fall under the three main explanations which are biological, cognitive and psychodynamic.
Works Cited
Butcher, James N., Susan Mineka, and Jill M. Hooley. Abnormal psychology. Pearson Education India, 2017.
Spitzer, Robert L., Jean Endicott, and Jean-Arthur Micoulaud Franchi. "Medical and mental disorder: Proposed definition and criteria." Annales Médico-psychologiques, revue psychiatrique. Vol. 176. No. 7. Elsevier Masson, 2018.
Sue, David, et al. Understanding abnormal behavior. Cengage Learning, 2015.
