Monday, May 08, 2006
Normality of the Psych
Normality is a central issue in psychiatry. It is defined in psychiatry as easy as the absence of signs and symptoms. That is very practical. Yet in psychology normality is not that easily defined. Some psychoanalysts seem to define normality as being ideal or living in Utopia. Freud had put a good definition by saying normality is the ability to love and to work. Normality can be seen from the perspective of how the majority of a given society feel and behave regarding the minority as abnormal.
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3 comments:
Here in the west I think we suffer from what I call "The Pathology of Happiness". The pathology of happiness is based upon the belief that people are "supposed" to be happy and if they're not, something is wrong. Fortunately, there is a pill, or a drink, or a new outfit that can alleviate the pain of unhappiness, or rather, "That Which is Abnormal".
Of course, the concept of normality itself is based on a belief system, i.e., "It's wrong for brown people to kill white people, but it's okay for white people to kill brown people because they're different from us and besides, we're only 'liberating' them."
*sigh* And that's me getting political.
It would be funny if it wasn't so painful, how we justify these things and classify some actions as "normal" and others as "abnormal". I'd take a pill but I think I'd rather feel the keening burn of injustice. Life just feels more human that way.
After reading your post I wonder if anyone is actually normal? I like to think that I am but I am sure that I am not completely void of signs and symptoms on some level of being. Your small post has made me think-a great challenge after graduation:)
Dear Sami, I am glad that you appreciated the content of my blog and I look forward to hearing from you again. Your feedback is really appreciated and I hope that we could share ideas and point of view from time to time.
Please keep up the good work on your blog. Your "Read With The Candles" post is more insightful than ten thousand lines of Western "journalists" from Iraq.
ﺍﷲ ﻳﺤﻔﻇ ﺍﻠﻌﺮﺍﻕ
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