PSYC 235 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Online Analytical Processing, Dysfunctional Family, Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid
12 Nov 2016
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However, we define abnormal, there is always debate on what it actually means. Issue with the term in general: negative connotation associated, most people think of it as negative. A dichotomy was created: normal or abnormal. To some extent, we all have some diagnoses, or traits or symptoms of something abnormal. It is a matter of when things start to be dysfunctional that we diagnose something as a disorder. We tend to think abnormal behaviours & symptoms are not common in a population: however, 20-30% of people experience psychological disorder at some point in life, diso(cid:396)de(cid:396)s a(cid:396)e(cid:374)"t as i(cid:374)f(cid:396)e(cid:395)ue(cid:374)t as (cid:449)e thi(cid:374)k. Language is important: be mindful of language when describing disorders, remember that someone with a disorder is not necessarily categorically different. They have reached a point where symptoms are distressing & impairing. Think of symptoms as falling on a continuum: we all exist on this continuum somewhere, disorder is merely an arbitrary cut off.
