The Mental Health Model Of Normality And Abnormality

How can you define Normality and Abnormality when there is a lot of cross over of people trying to define what is normal and what isn’t normal. in psychology there is requirements people have to meet to see if they are normal or abnormal, there is many ways on how to try and figure out what is right and what is wrong through symptoms and also statistical deviation but also social norms. but they are all have faults and are not fully reliable due to changes in society and how people perceive other people.

Jahoda came up with these requirements of being normal called the mental health model of normality such as the absence of mental illness, realistic self-perception and contact with reality, A strong sense of identity and positive self-esteem,

This criterion is linked to psychiatry which is a branch of medicine, that is meant to help the people that “have” a mental illness, Diagnosing people who might have a psychological disorder is hard as the diagnosis is based on the clinician’s observations, the patient’s self-reports, a clinical interview and diagnostic manuals that classify symptoms of specific disorders to help doctors find a correct diagnosis, But like with any other sickness many doctors have different options on what works the best, as you wont give two different people the same treatment even if they are diagnosed with the same disorder. Proponents of the mental illness criterion argues that it is an advantage to be diagnosed as “sick” because it shows that people are not responsible for their acts. this is why many people who murder also plead that they have a mental illness so they are not fully responsible for their acts. Although the origin of somme mental disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease can be liked to psychological changes in the brain, most psychological disorders cannot making them harder to find and be diagnosed. Critics of the mental health illness criterion argue that there is a stigma associated with mental illness, such as mental illness just doesn't come out of no where and there has to be a

the definition implies that statistically common behaviour can be classified as “normal”. Behaviour that is deviant from the norm is consequently “abnormal” in the normal distribution curve most behaviour falls in the middle. An intelligence quotient of 150 deviates from the norm of 100 it is statistically rare but it is considered desirable to have high intelligence. mental retardation is also rare but this is considered undesirable. but both are considered to be “abnormal” because they are both rare and being in the middle of both is considered as “normal”. Obesity is becoming increasingly statistically “normal” but obesity is considered to be undesirable. It is becoming Normal because of where it lies statistically but its also abnormal because not many people want to be obese. this brings back to the definitions and how it is hard to define what is normal and what is abnormal. The use of statistical frequency and deviation from the statistical norm is not a reliable criterion to define abnormal behaviour since what is “abnormal” in a statistical sense may both be desirable and undesirable. such as the examples above. what may be considered abnormal behaviour can differ from one culture to another so it is mostly impossible to establish universal standards from statistical abnormality. the model of statistical deviation from the norm always relates to a