However, defining the term mental illness has its challenges. The psychology field has multiple definitions of the term mental illness, but psychologists tend to agree that mental illness affects a person’s thinking (cognition), behavior and emotional state. According to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual-5 (DSM-5; 2013), mental illness is defined by the four criteria.
According to Durand and Barlow (2013), psychological disorder is a dysfunction associated with distress or impairment in functioning that is not atypical or a culturally expected response. However, defining and differentiating abnormal behavior from that of normal behavior can present some difficulties. For instance, consider that depending upon a society’s mores and norms, what is considered normal in one society may not be considered normal in another. Another example is trying to determine a person’s level of dysfunction; it can include not functioning normally in one or more areas such as cognition, emotion, and behavior. The individual who cries a lot or the teenager that binge eats may be showing emotional dysfunction. The individual must be showing personal distress for the behavior to be considered abnormal as well; yet, how should a person’s level of distress be identified?
References:
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
Durand, M. V.,
