Failure to function adequately

• Failing to cope with the everyday demands of life.

  Eg: self-care, hold down a job, interact meaningfully with others, make themselves understood
• 3 signs of failing to cope


  Abnormality judged as inability to deal with the demands of everyday life.

  Behaviour is maladaptive, irrational or dangerous.

  Behaviour causes personal distress or distress to others.
• Strengths of FFA

  Patients perspective- shoes how the experience to the patient is important

  Objective behaviour and allows for a ‘checklist’- practical checklist do the patient can assess own abnormality and it focuses on observable behaviours.
• Weaknesses of FFA

  Abnormality is not always accompanied by dysfunction- psychopaths can appear ‘normal’ like Harold Shipman who killed at least 215 people.

  ’Normal’ abnormality- eg grief. This is psychologically healthy but the definition doesn’t consider this.

  Objective measures do not allow for subjective judgements- what is normal for an eccentric is abnormal for an introvert. Behaviour may cause distress to others but not the individual (naked rambler)