Good Essay On How Do People Understand The Essence Of Abnormal Behavior?

What is the essential meaning of abnormal behavior? This term cannot be explained by only one definition, though while asking a number of questions about what exactly does abnormal behavior mean, the answers come from different grades of thoughts. I asked a number of people about how they could explain the meaning of abnormal behavior, and their answers principally differed from my understanding of this phenomenon. I consider abnormal behavior as that which does not correspond common norms. Some forms of abnormal behavior can be expressed by individual’s specific reaction to everyday tasks or situations as well as it may not be noticed in person’s other actions. I would like not to judge the person with abnormal behavior strictly since such people suffer from a disorder, and the most appropriate definition would be a “mental disorder”. There are a lot of causes of abnormal behavior; for instance, stress and person’s environment can have an impact and negative effect on him. Usually, people with abnormal behavior can visit psychologists in order to recover, however the best way to get rid of such disorder is to seek help and support from close people. I asked my brother, my friend and one stranger to answer the following questions, and the information that I get was quite different from my understanding of this disorder.
My brother was born in Saudi Arabia, he is 23 years old; he is studying engineering and has never taken a psychology classes. I was surprised by interviewing him because my brother has radically opposite views about abnormal behavior. He considers it as something when person “leads not normal life, acts in a strange way, and who is different with others.” Even if the most part of his understanding was closely connected to the truly meaning of abnormal behavior, it still does not mean that person with this disorder have an abnormal life. Conversely, person with abnormal behavior can have an absolutely normal life. As for “acting in a strange way”, it should be mentioned that deviation from the norms itself does not mean “strange” or “abnormal” behavior. The exact meaning of abnormal behavior varies depending on person’s individual characteristics and features; people’s understanding of this phenomenon varies as well. For instance, my brother and I have opposite views on what abnormal behavior is, though we were growing up together in the same place. The way we think about the same things is different; therefore, being in different place does not guarantee any impact on your thoughts. So, when I asked my brother how he can determine that someone is suffering from abnormal behavior, he said that people with this form of deviation “act strange with other people.” Although, the answer is not completely correct, it still can be credited as people with abnormal behavior really might act strange when they are around others. My brother claims that such people are “mentally ill” since he believes that their abnormal behavior is induced by their psychology. And I can agree with this claim, but only partly because my brother’s definition makes these people seem like they are those who cannot be normal anymore. And these people with disorder indeed might act strange when they start thinking that it is something wrong with them. The situation becomes even worse due to these people view themselves as those who differ from others. Both brother and I think that people with abnormal behavior do need help, and that such help can be given by psychologists because they talk to their patients a lot, letting people with disorder get rid of their unpleasant feelings. In general, several answers of my brother about abnormal behavior are the same as mine; however, his views on this problem still differ from mine.
The answers of my friend about abnormal behavior are much similar to those, which I have. In contrast to my brother, my friend has taken the psychology classes one year ago. She is 20 years old and she is studying at our college in the pharmD program; she was born here. When I asked her about how she can explain what an abnormal behavior is, she stated that it is something when “an individual cannot deal with daily tasks, and this is disability”. I agree with her since people with this disorder might not suffer from physical disability, however, they can have a mental one. Moreover, I think that people with abnormal behavior nevertheless can complete everyday tasks, but with some problems or difficulties. In addition, my friend sees something is abnormal when, for example, people’s hand moves do not in accordance with how they are really looking at things. On the one hand, I agree with her. But on another, I think that abnormal behavior is not shown by people so much that others could easily notice it, because those who suffer from abnormal behavior prefer not to let other people know about their disorder. My friend agree with me when I say that these people are the same as others, their brain just works somehow different and this can influence on the way people with disorder interact with “normal” ones. In any other situations such people are stabilized, just sometimes it happens that they act differently because their normal behavior turns into abnormal, which proves that people with abnormal behavior indeed suffer from mental disorder. Surprisingly, my friend does not consider that such people need help; to be more accurate, she said that they do not need any psychological treatment, but they do need some physical help and the encouragement from close people. It will be very useful if society support people with disorder instead of ignoring them or bullying. I think that our views on abnormal behavior match because of several reasons: firstly, my friend and I had the same course of psychology last year; secondly, we both have the same attitudes towards a lot of things since we are of the one age.
In the park I asked a stranger about his understanding of abnormal behavior. It was a 19-years-old student who was born here and now he is studying pre med. This student has taken an introduction to psychology. It seemed that he did not want to answer my questions, that is why he was a little inattentive and did not consider my interview as something serious. Nevertheless, he said that abnormal behavior in his understanding is something when a person acts strange all the time. It is partly true because, as for me, people with abnormal behavior might not act strange all the time. His answers were quite careless because when I asked how he can characterize and determine that someone is succumbed to the abnormal behavior, he answered shortly and unwillingly “they act strange”, which was an absurd because it is the judgment of a person who does not understand the problem fully. Moreover, he claimed that these people “are crazy”; and personally I do not consider that this statement is truth. When I asked about the necessity of treatment or any other help for such people, the student said they do need both psychological and physical help since they “make our world even worse”. I honestly do not understand why he said this and what did he actually mean when saying that they make the world worse. In any case, student’s answers about people’s abnormal behavior were inaccurate, strange and careless, even though he attended psychological classes and had to have a clear imagination of what an abnormal behavior is.