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Normal vs Abnormal Behavior
Psyc 303
Spring 2014
Definition of Abnormal Behavior
 No consensus
 But clear elements of ‘abnormality’!?
Normal vs. Abnormal Behavior
 Being different: Individuals possessing abilities that
distinguish them from the general public
 No harm to self, no harm to others, no dysfunction, then no
abnormality
Normal vs. Abnormal Behavior
 Deviant behavior: Behaviors straying from societal
“norms” or standards
 Statistical norms: how common or rare it is in the general population
 Critical to consider the context – goodness of fit
 Group expectations – culture (shared behavioral
patterns and lifestyles) /culture-bound syndrome
 Developmental level
Normal vs. Abnormal Behavior
Behaving dangerously
Result from intense emotional states or may signal
the presence of a psychological disorder, but alone is
not necessary or sufficient
Normal vs. Abnormal Behavior
Behaving dysfunctionally
Patterns of behavior that interfere with normal daily routines,
such as one’s social, occupational, and emotional functioning,
causing significant distress

Dysfunction: a dysfunction in general mental functioning
such as consciousness, orientation, intellect, or temperament
or specific mental functioning such as attention, memory,
emotion, psychomotor, perception, thought…
Definition used in Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM) DSM-IV-TR
 Behavioral, psychological, or biological dysfunctions
that are unexpected in their cultural context and
associated with present distress or impairment in
functioning or with increased risk of suffering, death,
pain, disability, or an important loss of freedom.
DSM-V Proposal for the Definition of Mental/Psychiatric Disorder
•Features
•A: a behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs in an individual
•B: the consequences of which are clinically significant distress (e.g., a painful symptom)
or disability (i.e., impairment in one or more important areas of functioning)
•C: must not be merely an expectable response to common stressors and losses (for
example, the loss of a loved one) or a culturally sanctioned response to a particular event
(for example, trance states in religious rituals)
•D: that reflects an underlying psychobiological dysfunction
•E: that is not solely a result of social deviance or conflicts with society
•F: that has diagnostic validity using one or more sets of diagnostic validators (e.g.,
prognostic significance, psychobiological disruption, response to treatment)
•G: that has clinical utility (for example, contributes to better conceptualization of
diagnoses, or to better assessment and treatment)
DSM-V Proposal for the Definition of Mental/Psychiatric Disorder
•Features A: a behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs in an individual
•B: the consequences of which are clinically significant distress (e.g., a painful symptom) or
disability (i.e., impairment in one or more important areas of functioning)
•C: must not be merely an expectable response to common stressors and losses (for example, the
loss of a loved one) or a culturally sanctioned response to a particular event (for example, trance
states in religious rituals)
•D: that reflects an underlying psychobiological dysfunction
•E: that is not solely a result of social deviance or conflicts with society
•F: that has diagnostic validity using one or more sets of diagnostic validators (e.g., prognostic
significance, psychobiological disruption, response to treatment)
•G: that has clinical utility (for example, contributes to better conceptualization of diagnoses, or to
better assessment and treatment)
•Other Considerations H: no definition perfectly specifies precise boundaries for the concept of either
“medical disorder” or “mental/psychiatric disorder”
•I: diagnostic validators and clinical utility should help differentiate a disorder from diagnostic
“nearest neighbors”
•J: when considering whether to add a psychiatric condition to the nomenclature, or delete a
psychiatric condition from the nomenclature, potential benefits (for example, provide better
patient care, stimulate new research) should outweigh potential harms (for example, hurt
particular individuals, be subject to misuse)
Recognizing the Presence of a Disorder
 Duration or persistence of maladaptive
behaviors/emotions/thoughts
 Frequency of maladaptive behaviors/emotions/thoughts
 Intensity of maladaptive behaviors/emotions/thoughts
 (Impairment in the ability to perform social and occupational roles)
Basic Concepts
 One symptom by itself is seldom sufficient to make a diagnosis.
 Syndrome:
 A group of symptoms that appear together and are assumed to
represent a specific type of disorder.
 Mental disorders: a set of characteristics.
 Clusters of persistent, maladaptive behaviors that are associated
with personal distress
 Most individuals with a mental disorder are in touch with reality
(When one is out of contact with reality, it is called
psychosis/psychotic behavior)
Approaches to Diagnosis:
Current System Requires Classification of
Psychological Disorders
 Diagnostic classification aims to describe a disorder as
well as predict its course, suggest treatment, and
stimulate research.
 The American Psychiatric Association rendered a
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM) to describe psychological disorders.
 The edition, DSM-IV-TR (Text Revision, 2000),
describes 400 psychological disorders compared to 60
in the 1950s.
 The most recent edition is DSM-V
Approaches to Diagnosis:
Current System Requires Classification of
Psychological Disorders
 Focus on symptoms and science
 What specific symptoms cluster together ? (clinical
presentation)
 What causes the disorder? (etiology)
 Developmental stage
 Functional impairment (short and long-term effects of
having the disorder)
Factors to Consider When Addressing
Abnormal Behavior
 Personal characteristics
(sex, race, ethnicity)
 Age (chronological age vs.
developmental maturity)
 Developmental trajectory
 Socioeconomic status
(most frequently the lower
income, the higher PD)
 Education level (the lower
the education, the higher
PD)
 Biological changes
(particularly hormonal
changes associated with
puberty)
How does the impact of mental disorders
compare with that of other health
problems?
 Although mental disorders are responsible for only
1% of all deaths, they produce 47% of all disability
in developed countries and 28% of all disability
worldwide.