Abnormal Behavior

Behaviors of some individuals around us often differ considerably from usual (common) behaviors. Such behaviors are usually evaluated within the framework of certain general concepts such as behavior disorder, mental disorder, mental health, and abnormal behavior. 

Abnormal behaviors are often defined through the examples depicting divergence from social norms such as suicides, murders and sexual assault, they are considered identical to behavioral disorders or dangerous behaviors. 

Psychology today also lists charachteristics of abnormal behavior. One abnormal behavior is repeating harmful actions in pattern, such as consistently sleeping only a few hours a night. People who behave abnormally may fixate on one emotion. An example of this is experiencing a long state of depression even though there is no logical reason to feel sad. Abnormal behavior may also violate ethics, such as sexual deviancy. 

Abnormal as a word means “away from the norm”. Any behavior that diverges or differs from the acceptable norms of the society are considered abnormal. All human groups create their own norms to form a basis (reference) for their wrong or correct behaviors. This situation provides answers to the questions focusing on how to behave towards certain people in certain places and times. 

If the behavior of an individual causes tension or stress, it is considered abnormal. Here, if behaviors or opinions of individuals disturb themselves, a treatment might be necessary. This approach deals with the individual according to his own views rather than society’s. Since the same behavior leads to different levels of satisfaction in diferent individuals, it is not possible to have a common view about personal disorder. 

The behaviors below the lowest level necessary for psychological health are defined as abnormal. Societies account for abnormal behaviors generally within the framework of acquired and learned belief systems. The main weakness of this approach is the lack of a structure to reveal the differences between desired and undesired behaviors. If such a structure does not exist, average behavior is determined according to the ideal. Since it is difficult to reach the ideal, most people experience adaptation problems in certain phases of their lives. 

While some take childhood life a criterion when defining abnormal behaviors, others take present time as the criterion. Some approaches, on the other hand, suggest that behaviors are determined through external factors. At this point, there are four main approaches. • Psychodynamic Approach • Cognitive Behaviorist Approach • Humanist–Existentialist approach • Sociocultural Approach. 

Psychodynamic approach was developed by Sigmund Freud. He believed adult abnormality was caused by unresolved conflicts in early childhood. He said that abnormal behavior arise from mental conflicts and drives that the person has been unable to resolve or coordinate with the realities of life and that therefore generate anxiety3. 

Ego: Ego is the rational part of the mind. Ego is concerned with behaving in a way that is socially acceptable. Id: id wants immediate gratification of its desires. The motivating forces for the id is the libido, which is the body’s pleasure seeking (sexual pleasure) force. Superego: Superego wants to live in accordance with ethical principles. If these aspects fail to achieve a good working relationship, psychological problems could appear. It will allow the id to get what it wants as long as it is not immoral to do so. 

Behaviorist approach argues that abnormal behaviors occur because of learned behaviors like all other behaviors. It assumes that, unlike classical conditioning and operant conditioning, abnormal behaviors are shaped by the effects of internal processes such as expectations and a wish to see the results of the things done. 

Cognitive structures: how an individual organizes information; for example, do they see a spider as just another daily object that they need to live with or do they see that spider as an object of fear? • Cognitive content: whether a person thinks negatively or positively about certain situations • Cognitive processes: how individuals then process this information and operate on it and whether they do so in a rational or irrational way • Cognitive products: this refers to the conclusion that the individual will draw from the processed information. 

According to this approach, individuals are born with a tendency to behave ideally in terms of psychological development, growth and healthy balance. This tendency is called self-realization. 

The sociocultural approach makes the assumption that people’s behavior both normal and abnormal is shaped by the kind of family group, society, and culture in which they live. According to this view, the kinds of relationships that evolve with others may support abnormal behaviors and even cause them to occur. The kinds of stresses and conflicts people experience as part of their daily interactions with others in their environment can promote and maintain abnormal behavior. 

This approach explains abnormal behaviors through faulty processes due to genetic factors or organic function disorders in the nervous system and glands.

The reason of this disorder might be a virus or microbe, organic deficiencies from birth or head trauma. Whatever the problem is, this model has three assumptions: • Patient suffers from a physical or emotional pain due to an illness. • It is possible to diagnose this illness by identfying certain symptoms • Each illness has a unique and certain reason.

They are group of mental illnesses and the distress which can keep you from carrying o   with your life normally. Anxiety is overwhelming and hard to control. Primary anxiety-related diagnosis include generalized anxiety disorder, pani disorder, social phobia and obsessive-compulsive disorder. 

Physical symptoms can be listed as follows: • Muscle tension-Shivering and failure of relaxation in muscles since they are very tense • Hyperactivity of the autonomous system leading to sweating, tachycardia, dizziness, trembling, nausea, headache. 

Psychological symptoms of general anxiety can be listed as follows: • The normal behavior of the individual displays a sort of distortion. The individual always feels upset and has some hostile ideas about others. The wish to hide anxiety affects his/her Daily life, preventing him/her from having a normal life. • The individual displays  irrational and meaningless behaviors. Sometimes, he/ she has irrational fears such as repeating a behavior many times or being afraid of getting on a bus. • Even though it is depressing, those suffering from general anxiety disorder do not break their ties with reality. They do not live in a world of fantasy. 190

Disturbingly intense experience of fear or terror despite the lack of rational reason is called panic disoder. 

Common symptoms associated with a panic attack include: • racing heartbeat or palpitations • shortness of breath • feeling like you are choking • dizziness       (vertigo) • lightheadedness • nausea • sweating or chills • shaking or trembling • changes in mental state, including a feeling of derealization (feeling of unreality) or depersonalization (being detached from oneself) • numbness or tingling in your hands or feet • chest pain or tightness • fear that yo might die. 

The individuals having this psychological illness develop habits that they repeat quite often but are not able to control them easily. These weird habits, which seem to be harmless, emerge to help individuals to control and regulate their intense and complex feelings. When these repeated actions and ideas become a source of anxiety and unhappiness, the normal life of the individual starts to go wrong. 

Hypochondriasis refers to the situation when an individual is too much interested in his/her body functions and develops irrational beliefs about disorders or illnesses affecting the functions of his/her internal organs.

The individuals having such a disorder may suffer from functional inadequacies in sense organs although there are no physiological or neurological reasons. For instance, an individual may suffer from hearing loss or paralysis despite the absence of a physical disorder. 

Dissociative amnesia (loss of memory) is about the sudden loss of important information (knowledge) due to stressful and traumatic incidents although the capacity to learn new information is not deteriorated. Such a memory loss cannot be considered a simple forgetfulness problem. The person cannot remember personal information, typically for a specific event (death of a loved one) or period of time, although it can extend to one’s entire identity (who am I). 

Simple schizophrenia: This illness progresses very slowly. After the puberty period, the individual starts to lose interest in people around him/her, and academic success gets lower. He/she does not care about his/her friends or family. He/she is not interested in the opposite sex and has concentration problems. He/she is reluctant to study/work and talks a little. The most important characteristic of simple schizophrenia is the tendency to introvertness, in which he/she gets away from realities and becomes an introvert individual. 

The most characteristic symptoms of hebephrenic schizophrenia are as follows: childish talk, giggling, disconnected talk, gestures and mimics, selftalking, crying jags following reasonless laughters, too much interest in feces and urine, smearing feces on clothes or walls, showing sexual organs with no feeling of shame, tantrums and bad temper. 

Personality disorders are characterized by dysfunctional self-functioning and interpersonal functioning, as well as long-term maladaptive personality traits (e.g.,hostility, emotional instability, eccentricity, impulsivity). 

• Exaggerate own importance • He/or she is preoccupied with fantasies of success, power, beauty, intelligence • Requires constant attention and admiration from others • Has unreasonable expectations of favorable treatment • Takes advantage of others to reach his or her own goals • Disregards the feelings of others, lacks empathy • Is often envious of others or believes other people are envious of him or her • Shows arrogant behaviors and attitudes.