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Are you Abnormal?

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Are you ‘Abnormal’?

Abnormal means statistically rare in a system. If you have unusual abilities, physical features or a high IQ - compared to a certain population - you are abnormal. If you are sane in a lunatic asylum - you are abnormal.

• Social - your society has many unwritten 'norms’ or guidelines or cultural expectations for acceptable behavior. If you reject social norms - you are abnormal.
• Psychological - normal behavior includes accepting personal stress or discomfort. If you speak about your distress or discomfort when most do not - you are abnormal.
• Domestic -  normal behavior includes your ability to cope with your everyday life. If you cannot cope with the everyday details of your life - you are abnormal.
• Medical - normal behavior is a lack of disease symptoms. If you have an unusual physical disorder - or if you heal very quickly - you are abnormal.

Mental abnormality cannot be diagnosed by blood analysis, imaging technique or other laboratory tests. Mental abnormality is always a judgment by an observer; a comparison with a standard. A judgment of abnormal may be based on behavior, or following some legal or political agenda.

A definition of abnormality depends on both the individual and the community to which the individual is compared; and each definition applies to a limited range of abnormal behavior. In some families and communities, it is abnormal to have financial success or happy relationships.

[ Depression ] [ Anxiety ] [ Schizophrenia ] [ Bipolar Disorder ]

Diagnosis of Abnormal Behavior

Most mental health professionals determine the normality of an individual during interviews. A person is asked questions such as: “Have you ever felt depressed about life?”; “Have you ever experienced a major change in your appetite?”; “Were you ever easily distracted?”

Such questions can probably be answered positively by everybody at some time. Unless there is something to gain by honesty, however, many sane people will lie to avoid being judged as abnormal.

Eventually, a clinician will decide that he or she has enough information to determine whether a person is suffering from a mental illness and, if so, to make a diagnosis.

But people may be reluctant to talk about their fantasies, sex life, or use of drugs. People may suffer from more than one set of symptoms. Few symptoms are specific to mental illnesses. For example, overwork, infections, family stress and lack of sleep can produce symptoms similar to those called psychosis.

[ Personality Disorders ] [ Developmental Disorders ] [ Attachment Disorders ]

Treatment of Abnormal Behavior

Normal mental health diseases are unhealthy behaviors that are shared by the majority of a community. Common examples include ethnocentricity, identity conflict, racism, nicotine addiction and chronic stupidity. The symptoms and prognosis of some normal behavior can be as bad, or worse, than many abnormal mental health disorders.

Abnormal mental health problems refer to identifiable sets of symptoms that interfere with normal day-to-day functions of living. Mental diseases may be primarily existential (e.g. non-stop or all-of-life), contextual (e.g. in certain situations or with defined triggers) or systemic (only apparent within relationships).

Treatment depends on the perceived type and severity of the disorder. Schizophrenia is primarily treated with drugs, while phobias are generally treated with psychotherapy. For severe symptoms such as depression, an effective treatment may be a combination of drugs and psychotherapy.

Less than 50% percent of people with mental disorders seek professional help. Not only does mental abnormality carry a social stigma, psychiatry is sometimes perceived as expensive and futile.

Many people control emotional reactions by self-medication with nicotine, alcohol and caffeine.

Systemic Coaching & Abnormal Behavior

Soulwork systemic coaching helps people prevent and control chronic abnormal behavior. It helps people deal with the stigma of chronic mental symptoms. Systemic coaching can also provide emotional support to the family during difficult times; and helps families deal with problems.

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