Psychopathology

• Defines abonrmality in terms of statistics.
• The most obvious way to define anything as normal is in the number of times its observed 

• Example of this is IQ.
• Average IQ is 100, having only 2% of people falling under 70
• Individuals scoring below 70 are statisically abnormal and diganosed with a intellectual disability disorder

:) Real life application

• All assessments on mental disorders include some comparisons to statistical norms
• thus a useful part in clinical assessment

:( Unusual charateristics can be positive

• IQ scores over 130 are considered just as abnormal as IQ scores under 70
• however they are not seen as undesirable or needing treatments
• This is a serious limitation as statistical infrequency should not be used alone

:( Not everyone benefits from a label

• When someone is living a happy life there is no benefit of being labelled abnormal
• someone with a low IQ who is not distressed would not need a diagnosis of intellectual disability
• also being labelled may have a negative effect on the way others view them

• When a person acts in a way that is different to the expected social norms and values then they may be regarded as abnormal
• socieites and social groups make collective judgements on what is regarded as abnormal
• There are few behaviours that would be considered as being universally abnormal making definitions link to cultural context
• Example is Antisocial personality disorder, which is where individuals fail to conform to societys laws and ethical behaviours.
• making them abnormal as the deviate from social norms

:( Culturally relative

• person from one cultural group may label another group as abnormal by using their societys standards
• example hearing voices is socially acceptable in some cultures in the the uk its a sign of abnormality
• creates problems for someone from a different cultural group living in another group

• is when an individual cannot deal with the demands of everyday life
• their behaviours so maladaptive that they cannot hold a job, maintaine relationships or basic hygiene
• When someone is not coping they experiance personal distress and behave in irrational ways
• Example of this is intellectual disability disorder, even though its statistical infrequent aswell, it would be judged on other factors aswell. As a result of this the person is not able to meet the demands of living

:(  Same as deviation from social norms

• can be difficult to say whether someone is really failing to function or deviating from social norms
• people who live daring lifestyles such as extreme sports could be seen as being maladaptive
• if we treat these behaviours as being failures to function then it limits their freedoms

:) recognises the patients perspective

• the definition acknowledges the experiance of the patient which is important

• Different way of looking at abormality as it looks at what whats someone normal
• Johoda listed 8 criterias for ideal mental health

1. no symptoms of distress

2. rational perception of ourselves

3. self-actualise- humanist concept

4. cope with stress

5. realistic view of world

6. good self esteem

7. independent of other people

8. successfully work and enjoy leisure time

:( Culturally relative

• some of johodas ideas are specific to western european and northern american ideals.
• example self actualisation is deemed as selfish in collectivist cultures

:( High standards

• Very few people meet jahodas criteria for mental health, making most of us abnormal to her criteria