“What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, more unashamed conversation”. - Glenn Close
A psychological disorder, also known as a psychiatric disorder or a mental illness is a pattern of behavior which causes severe pain or distress to a person’s basic functioning. These features can be consistent, relapsing, or they could even be one singular episode. These mental patterns are usually different from the norms hence they are termed as abnormal. These disorders are neatly described, and are studied with signs and symptoms that can be different with varying forms of disorders. Psychological disorders can only be properly diagnosed by a licensed psychologist, or a mental health professional.
Normality and Abnormality
Normality
Normality is defined as the common pattern of behavior which is seen in the majority of the general population. A person who is normal exhibits satisfactory social and work skills, and is able to take care of themselves. A normal person usually conforms to social norms. Such type of people can regularly maintain healthy relationships with people, and can give appropriate emotional reactions to them, they also do not let their emotional experiences affect the way they experience conflict and frustration.
The large majority of the population is said to be normal. Normal behavior is a form of representation of the optimal development of a group of people according to Coleman (1981). Therefore, people who have average or above average intelligence, are stable and socially adaptable are considered normal.
Abnormality
Abnormality is defined as the exaggerated or unusual development of psychological behavior. The type of behavior which is maladaptive, or which does not conform to social norms is termed as abnormal. It is when a person deviates from social norms in a very pathologically negative way. These deviant ways in which behaviors manifest are seen as being maladaptive because not only are they harmful to the society, but they also cause harm to the individual. These can be the reasons for interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts according to Coleman (1981). Abnormal behavior is a form of representation where the group of people consists of individuals who have unstable emotions, character defects, limited intelligence, and are social deviants and misfits. How to define what is normal and abnormal? The people who are abnormal are often diagnosed with mental disorders.
Classifications
There are two majorly well-known systems that classify mental disorders.
ICD-10 Chapter V: Mental and Behavior Disorders, this was started in 1949 and is a part of the International Classification of Diseases by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), this was started in 1952 by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
These manuals are for standardization of mental disorders, so that they can be categorized and can be referred to by professionals as a form of guidelines. Both of these manuals are deliberately updated every few years with a new edition, so as to avoid the usage of outdated information. It is to be noted that the classification of mental disorders is different than that of learning disability, intellectual disability, or neurological disabilities.
ICD AND DSM are the most commonly used guidelines, other region-specific manuals also exist such as the Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders, and there are also examples of classifications such as the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual.
List of Disorders
Mental Disorders come under many categories; the ones commonly listed in the DSM-5 are:
Anxiety Disorder
Anxiety is one of the most common diagnoses in the mental health field. Anxiety is defined as the fear that disrupts your normal functioning. Many categories of anxiety include generalized anxiety disorder, specific phobias, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, social anxiety disorder, and many more.
Mood Disorder
Mood disorders are usually categorized by rapidly fluctuating moods. One can experience intense happiness or depressing sadness. For eg- Bipolar Disorder.
Psychotic Disorder
Psychotic disorders are characterized as dysregulated patterns of belief, perception of reality and language usage. Some examples include delusional disorder and schizophrenic disorder. There is a separate category for people who have showcased both schizophrenic and affective disorders, and that is known as schizoaffective disorder.
Eating Disorder
These are the type of disorders which are heavily focused on the individual being concerned about their weight and consumption of food. Examples of these types of disorders are bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, binge eating disorder etc.
Personality Disorder
Any disorder which can strongly affect the primary characteristics of thoughts and behaviors of a person are known as personality disorders. A few examples of these are histrionic, borderline, narcissistic, and antisocial personality disorders.
Sleep Disorder
Any condition defined by disruption to a normal sleep schedule are sleep disorders. For example, insomnia is when a person has difficulty in falling or staying asleep.
Dissociative Disorder
When people struggle with identifying with their own identity, awareness and memory, they are said to have dissociative identity disorder or depersonalization disorder. This used to be known as multiple personality disorder before.
There are also many more categories of disorders which have been listed such as sexuality related disorders such as gender dysphoria, substance abuse which is the consistent use of drugs and alcohol despite its negative effects, disorders which make it difficult to control your impulses such as kleptomania, disorders which involve the loss of self-identity such as dissociative identity disorder, cognitive disorders such as dementia and delirium, developmental disorders such as disorders on the autism spectrum, somatoform disorders etc. The list is very long and that’s why gets updated once in a while.
Diagnosis
It is very important to note that self-diagnosis can be very dangerous, so it is always advisable to seek help from a licensed mental health professional who can diagnose you as per your needs and prescribe proper treatment and medication. Also different diagnosis will have different treatments and as humans are complex creatures, the same treatment may not work on everyone and they will need personal attention.
Conclusion
The concept of normality and abnormality can be defined to a certain extent. It is always important to seek help related to your mental health since it will be beneficial to you in the long run. Psychologists have also worked for many years to classify these disorders, and tried to scale their severity. In the end it is important to note that people with psychological disorders should not be treated harshly even when they exhibit harmful emotions because many times, it’s the result of their genetics and upbringing which they have no control over. That being said it is also true that one should not be excused for doing wrong things just because they suffer from a mental health disorder.
References
DSM-5
WHO.int
Researchgate.com
Psychologytoday.com
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