‘Abnormal behaviour’ can be defined as behaviour which is unusual, socially unacceptable, dangerous to themselves or others, or whether a person is in a significant amount of personal distress. ... Although there is a continuum along which everyone will at some point suffer depressed mood, several different criteria must be taken into account before deciding whether the depressed mood a person may be suffering from is abnormal or not. The cause of depressed mood also varies due to the many different paradigms which have branched out from psychology over the last few decades and even centuries. ...
There are many different criteria which have been developed in today’s societies which together, determine what is considered ‘normal’ behaviour and what is considered ‘abnormal’ behaviour. ... Therefore we have to consider many different cultural and social aspects before we can define any behaviour as being abnormal. ... Therefore, it is very hard to draw a solid line to determine when behaviour may be deemed more abnormal than normal. Firstly, when behaviour is ‘unusual’, it may be defined as abnormal but what one person in one culture may deem unusual may be considered perfectly acceptable behaviour in another culture. Unusual behaviour can be considered behaviour which is an uncommon occurrence in a culture, for example hallucinations, panic attacks or hearing voices in western cultures is considered unusual and so a person who experiences one or more of these behaviours could be considered abnormal. ...
We can also define behaviour as abnormal when behaviour is socially unacceptable. ... Therefore, behaviour which is socially unacceptable can also be considered abnormal. However, it must be remembered that because every society has a different set of social norms, again cultural background must first be taken into account before defining any socially unacceptable behaviour as abnormal.
Behaviour may also be defined as abnormal if a person is in a significant amount of personal distress. ... Before it can be determined when we can consider the behaviour to be abnormal or not, several factors must be taken into account. ... If this is the case, then we could define this behaviour as being abnormal.
We may also define behaviour which is ‘dangerous’ to be abnormal. ... However, again there will be cultural differences which will have to be considered as to defining whether dangerous behaviour is abnormal or not. For example, people in western cultures would consider walking on hot coal and burning the soles of your feet very abnormal behaviour as you are doing yourself deliberate harm but in tribes in Africa, this is a religious ritual which is done to prove your manhood and spiritual awareness.
Therefore, before any behaviour can be defined as abnormal behaviour, cultural aspects must first be taken into account. We may then consider abnormal behaviour as unusual, socially unacceptable, dangerous to themselves or others, or whether a person is in a significant amount of personal distress (Nevid, Rathus, & Greene, 2000). ... However, to determine whether this depressed mood is ‘abnormal’ or not will depend on several important factors being taken into account. ... Because even if a person’s depressed mood may seem perfectly reasonable having taken into account the situation contributing to the depressed mood, it may still be considered ‘abnormal’ if the person has lost their capability to perform every day activities such as getting out of bed in the morning, tidying the house or even leaving the house to do some shopping.
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