Abnormal Psychology Paper

Abnormal psychology has criteria for determining its factors. Some of them are very common, but have a line that separates what is really normal and what is not. Such as Unusualness; it is considered abnormal if you see or hear things that are not there to begin with, but in some cases it is the norm in certain societies. While most people experience anxiety before an interview, it is abnormal to continue to feel that way. The world has “norms” or standards, and one can step into social deviance. For this it is interesting to find that people who studied cannibals, it was seen as normal to them to do so; yet to outsiders it was not.

The other criteria for determining abnormality are faulty perceptions of reality, significant personal distress,
maladaptive behavior, and dangerousness. In each of these their were fine lines between manic and highs. It is quite frightful to see the lifetime prevalence of psychological disorders as they only rise, and rarely fall on the graph. And with abnormal behavior it is always up to the culture of the people, and changes the facts or beliefs of the “abnormalities”. And throughout history, some perspectives; mainly western culture, saw abnormal behaviors as demonic and the like.

Ways to cure abnormalities became huge in the mid-evil times; that gave way to exorcisms and witch craft. Which of course brought suspicion and a lot of death. Thankfully as time passed, so did a step forward in dealing with abnormal behavior; letting reason and science take effect at last.