PSYC101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Agoraphobia, Dsm-5, Dissociative Identity Disorder
Document Summary
Statistical frequency of beliefs/behaviour is a problematic measure of abnormality: any rare behaviour/quality, like collecting rare books or running 100 meters under 10 seconds, would be considered abnormal. Social norms could be another approach to defining abnormality e. g. , gender stereotypes. Experiencing distress is often what people use as a sign that they need to seek help (depression). Also distress might be experienced in others (anti-social personality disorder lead to high distress in others): but suffering alone is not enough being temporarily distressed is a perfectly normal response to many situations. Impaired functioning difficulty in fulfilling appropriate and expected roles in family, social and related situations, leading to isolation: butlike with distress, being dysfunctional due to a temporary family problem (or physical illness) is normal. Moreover, people can display signs of psychological disorders yet still be able to function at work, school or at home.
