Melisa Lore
According to Butcher, Hooley, and Mineka, “a major problem is that there is no one behavior that makes someone abnormal” which is the reason that abnormality is difficult to define (2014, p.3). Though it is clear that abnormalities are considered unusual behavior, it is difficult to construct a box that contains normal behavior and the outside area that is abnormal. One of the most difficult facts about abnormalities is that “decisions about abnormal behavior always involve social judgments and are based on the values and expectations of society at large. This means that culture plays a role in determining what is and is not abnormal” (Butcher et al., 2014, p.5). The reason I see this as such a huge issue is because at one point in time, people thought homosexuals were considered mentally ill (Butcher et al., 2014). This again, had to do with societies expectancies/judgements. Now, the LGBTQ community is thriving getting their message for equal love across our country. What is not understood is often harshly criticized. I think that one thing that can be agreed on is that causing harm to others or yourself is not normal behavior. Though there are many definitions, I would say that mental health issues are stemmed around an individual causing mental/physical/emotional harm to oneself or to another and ultimately justifying the reason. Characteristics like depression and dangerous thoughts/actions can characterize abnormality.
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Micha Niebauer
Abnormality is difficult to define because it heavily relies on the interpretation of the individual doing the defining. In itself, abnormality is something that is not normal. It is strange, foreign, and unusual. The problem with this textbook definition is that it then requires the person doing the defining to elaborate on what normal actually is. It is here where the problems occur. Who can really say what normal truly is. For each society, religion, group, and individual this could be something completely different. Just as a silly example, let’s look at people who put ketchup on their eggs. It is in my opinion that ruining a perfectly good egg by slathering it with ketchup is in fact abnormal. Many others would disagree and may even go as far to say it is abnormal to not use ketchup on your eggs. I know that this is not a perfect analogy when comparing with psychological abnormalities but, the same logic is present. Someone may think differently or engage in uncommon behaviors but is this abnormal behavior or abnormal to us. So, with this amount of variability in the idea of what is normal, is it fair to even define something as abnormal?
