Page 461 - Understanding Psychology

What Are Psychological Disorders?
s Main Idea
Psychologists draw the line between normal and abnormal behavior in prac- tice by looking at various attempts to define abnormal behavior, adjustments, and psychological health.
s Vocabulary • DSM-IV
s Objectives
• Define psychological disorder.
• Distinguish between the concepts of
normality and abnormality.
Reader’s Guide
Exploring Psychology
Normal or Not?
A man living in the Ozark Mountains has a vision in which God speaks to him. He begins preaching to his relatives and neighbors, and soon he has the whole town in a state of religious fervor. People say he has a “calling.” His reputation as a prophet and healer spreads, and in time he is drawing large audiences everywhere he goes. However, when he ventures into St. Louis and attempts to hold a prayer meeting, blocking traffic on a main street at rush hour, he is arrested. He tells the policemen about his conversations with God, and they hurry him off to the near- est mental hospital.
—from Understanding Psychology, Richard A. Kasschau, 1995
Who is right? The prophet or the police officers? It is often dif- ficult to draw a line between normal and abnormal behavior. Behavior that some people consider normal seems abnormal to others. Many believe that having visions and hearing voices are important parts of a religious experience. Other people believe these are symptoms of a psychological disorder. The man in the example above was inter- viewed by psychiatrists, diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic, and hos- pitalized. Had he stayed home, people would have continued to see him as perfectly normal—even popular.
Chapter 16 / Psychological Disorders 447