Criteria of

Abnormality
 DISCLAIMER

Please do not start

diagnosing yourself,
family, friends,
classmates,
professors or anyone
else you can think of.
Abnormal behaviour
WHAT IS IT ?

There is a lot of confusion regarding

this concept.

Because the term abnormality is subjective

to everyone's experiences and cultural settings.

 WHAT IS
ABNORMALITY
 DEFINITION

Even after various attempts, there's no one definition of abnormality, because manifestations of

abnormality varies in different people. And not everyone shares the same elements of
behaviour

Hence, APA has proposed certain indicators for defining abnormality. But

any one criteria is not sufficient and not all are suitable to the person in

distress either.
 No universal definition of psychological
Multi-criteria disorders exists that can apply to all situations
in which a disorder is thought to be present
approach ( Zachar & Kendler, 2007 )

Violation of
Subjective Distress
societal standards
Maladaptiveness Irrationality &
Unpredictability
Statistical deviancy

Social discomfort Dangerousness

 Subjective
Distress
Refers to the psychological
pain one experiences. It is
the emotional distress
while engaging in a
particular behaviour or
thought process.

For Example: 1. People having Agoraphobia experience psychological distress in c

2. People with depression also experience. ( And many more )
 BUT IS THIS CRITERIA ENOUGH?

WHY?
There are broadly 2 reasons:
1. People experience distress in regular day-to-day life also
2. For some disorders, suffering and distress are absent in
their symptoms
 TO ILLUSTRATE THIS POINT:

People with Antisocial

People who experience
personality disorder bring
manic episodes feel elated
distress to
during that particular
other people's lives.
phase. They feel no
And themselves do
distress
not go through distress.
MALADAPTIVENESS
Behaviours that threaten one's ability

to function well within the social

context can be considered

maladaptive.

They are unable to adapt to the

demands of their life.

For Example: ANOEREXIA NERVOSA

People with OCD who experience compulsions involve in repetitive behaviour
and leads to functional impairment . And SOCIAL PHOBIA
 PROBLEM
WITH THIS
CRITERIA :
People with antisocial personality disorder
eg- someone who is a contract killer. They kill
someone for a living.
According to them they are able to adapt.
Such is the case with bipolar disorder as well.
But others see it that way.
 Statistical
deviancy

Behaviours that are away from the

statistical normal away from the majority
or average.

The more infrequently a behaviour occurs,

the more ABNORMAL it is considered
 CRITICISMS :
1.Who determines how far from the
norm is too far from the norm?

Clinicians do.
Usually if behaviour is considered "abnormal" if it occur in less than 5% population. (
1.645 standard deviation away )
But, these calculations are done by tests that are based on a certain cultural framework.

Hence, not uniform.

2. PARADOXICAL NATURE:

In IQ distribution , people with high IQ (Above

130) are not considered
" Abnormal " in the conventional sense,
while people with IQ below 70 are considered
not normal
 Violation of
societal standards

SOCIAL NORMS:
Widely held beliefs and attitudes that people
use consciously to make judgements about
behvaiours of other people
Behaviour that violate social norms are considered d

1. People who experience

Hallucinations

2. Repetitive behaviours and

mental acts in OCD
(Eg- praying, counting words silently)
 This criteria seems to be the common
understanding of mental disorders

Broad Narrow BUT NO!

Criminals violate social People with anxiety

norms, for example disorders
vandalism. But they do not violate
aren't considered all any social norms
considered disordered.
 Role of culture
Also..
Since behavior varies from one
culture to another, what may be
expected
and considered appropriate in one
culture may not be viewed as such in
other cultures

Example: Eye contact is one of many social

gestures that vary from culture to culture.
 Social
Discomfort
Some people may violate implicit or
unwritten rule. Hence, those around
him/her
may experience a sense of discomfort or
unease because of others' behaviour.

Eg- Asperger's syndrome. Other people around

them are often skeptical about being around
them.
 Problem
with this
criteria

People having disorders such as

depression or anxiety do not cause
social discomfort to others around
them .
Irrationality and Unpredictablility
When a person’s behaviour appears to

be out of their control and is irrational

(i.e., screaming random words and

rolling around on the ground). Such

behaviour is often symptomatic for

schizophrenia or
illnesses such as

bipolar disorder (the manic phase).

 Dangerousness
Behaviours that are indicated to harm
or hurt oneself or others are not
considered typical

Depression leading to suicide, self harm ( cutting ). Also subs

abuse disorder
 Criticism:
Not all dangerous behaviour are
considered " abnormal" in the conventional sense.
Eg- people who participate in dangerous sports
activities ( Jalikattu )

Hence, this criteria is an exception,

not a rule.
( Only in extereme cases )
 Exceptional
cases: Thought

There are cases where along with the

characteristics of the disorder, their social Emotions Behaviour
occupational or normal functioning is not
disrupted.

Hence, in such cases the clinicians can't

diagnose the person with any disorder because
their day to day activity is not disrupted.
Is any criteria
enough?

Any criteria in itself is not enough. Various

criterion may overlap with each other. May vary
in terms of intensity and duration or some may
be absent altogether.
DSM-5 Definition
 Case study:
Felicia didn’t like to think back to her early school years.
Elementary school was not a very fun time. She couldn’t sit
still or follow directions very well. She often blurted out
answers when it wasn’t her turn to talk, and she never
seemed to be able to finish her class papers without many
mistakes. If that wasn’t bad enough, the other girls often
laughed at her and called her names. She still remembers the
time she tried to join in with a group of girls during recess.
They kept running away, whispering to each other, and giggling.
When Felicia asked what was so funny, one of the girls
laughed and said, “You are hyper, girl! You fidget so much in
class, you must have ants in your pants!”
 Identified Criteria
Unpredictable behaviour

Violation of societal norms

Maladaptiveness
Social discomfort
Abnormal is so
common, it's
practically normal

CORY DOCTOROW
THANK YOU!
By Sanika Sharma ( Psy/19/32 )