psychopathology

• abnormality 


  -statistical infrequency

  -failure to function adequately

  -deviation from social norms

  -deviation from ideal mental health
• abnormality as statistical infrequency


  -behaviour abnormal as statistically rare

  -people who're 2 standard deviations above/below mean are abnormal
• statistical infrequency limitations


  -doesn't take desirability into account > some are beneficial & don't require treatment

  -inaccuracy of statistical data > gender bias

  > men bottle up issues, women tell doctors
• abnormality as deviation from social norms


  -society has rules about what're acceptable behaviours, beliefs & values

  -abnormal if deviates from some notion of what society considers proper/acceptable
• social norm limitations


  -related to moral standards that vary over time > inconsistent

  -cultural relativism > social standards vary from culture to culture

  > all cultures define abnormality differently

  > may result in incorrect diagnosis of abnormality
• abnormality as failure to function adequately


  -behaviour that prevents coping with demands of everyday life

  -assessed on Global Assessment of Functioning Scale
• failure to function adequately limitations


  -involves making subjective value judgements about others as to what is failure to function

  -ethical issues > doctors making judgements / labelling

  -many 'normal' people fail to cope with demands of life

  > not coping = abnormal?
• abnormality as deviation from ideal mental health

  -Jahoda > ideal mental health consists of having:

  > positive attitude towards oneself

  > opportunity to self actualise

  > ability to resist stress

  > personal autonomy (not being too dependent on others)

  > accurate perception of reality

  > ability to adapt to one's environment
• ideal mental health limitations

  -so demanding of mental health > everyone considered abnormal

  -cultural relativism > ethnocentric/individualistic list

  > collectivist society sees personal autonomy far from ideal

  -lead to incorrect diagnosis

  -accurate perception of reality not characteristic of normal people

  > Taylor

  > depressive realism

  -perceptions of reality change with time & new knowledge

  > inconsistent