eval - failure to function adequately

• support

  recognises the patient’s perspective

  this may not be an entirely satisfactory approach because it is difficult to assess distress

  however, the definition acknowledges that the experience of the patient and/or others is important. it captures the experience of many people who need help and is useful for assessing abnormality
• counter

  some ‘maladaptive’ behaviour may in fact be adaptive

  for example, a person who has the obsessive-compulsive disorder of hand washing may find that the behaviour makes him cheerful, happy and better able to cope with his day. thus such behaviour is rewarding and quite functional
• i&d

  cultural relativity means that it can be difficult to assess adequate functioning as these are linked to cultural ideas of how a person should live their life, therefore different diagnoses will be applied to people in different cultures