Psychology Test: Normality and Abnormality, Classification of Mental Disorders, Models of Atypical Behavior and Treatment Options

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY TEST
Psychology test
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Answer 1: Concept of normality and abnormality
Normality and abnormality are two important concepts used to define behavior and
psychological disorders in people. Normality is defined as the common occurrence or common
behavior expressed by an individual. Its definition may vary according to different social context
and normal. Normality is referred as the good signs of behavior in an individual whereas
abnormality is regarded as the bad part of human behavior. On the other hand, abnormality is
regarded as undesirable behavior or psychological disorder in an individual (Bassett and Baker
2015). Although diagnostic manual of mental disorders has clearly defines different types of
mental disorder, however there is lack of clear definition on normality and abnormality. This is
mainly because psychological disorder varies between individual and different socio-cultural
groups. Currently, abnormality is measured and identified in an individual by the criteria of
violating social norms, statistical infrequency and being harmful to others (Sue et al. 2015).
Answer 2: Main systems for classification of mental disorders
There are two main systems for the classification of mental disorders used by health care
professionals. These include:
 ICD 10 (The International Classification of Disease): This standard diagnostic
classification is published by WHO and covers 10 main groups of mental disorders.
These includes symptomatic mental disorder, mental and behavioral disorders due to
psychoactive substance, schizophrenia, mood disorders, neurotic disorder, behavioral
disorder, personality disorder, mental retardation, psychological development related
disorder and emotional disorders in childhood and adolescence. ICD-10 provides both

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clinical description as well as diagnostic guidelines to health care professionals (WHO |
ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioral disorders 2017). DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder): The DSM-IV manual
is published by the American Psychiatric Association and it classified and defines all
types of mental disorders found in both adults and children. By the use of DSM-IV
manual, health care professional can use multidimensional approach to diagnose mental
illness. The advantage of this manual is that it allows health care professionals to provide
a comprehensive diagnosis of mental illness defined by considering all factors that
contribute to illness (Proctor, Kopa and Hoffmann 2014). They mainly assess the
following five dimensions to confirm the type of mental illness in patient:
Axis I: It is the top level in the multi-axial system of diagnosis which gives idea about acute
symptoms that can be treated. For example, major depressive episode, schizophrenia and panic
attack are most familiar symptoms.
Axis II: This dimension helps in the assessment of developmental and personality disorders.
Some example of developmental disorders includes autism and one example of personality
disorders include paranoid and borderline personality disorder. These are life long mental
problem that starts from childhood. Diagnosis of such disorder is also associated with social
stigma as it such patients face challenges in adapting to demands of the society (Tyrer et al.
2015).
Axis III: This dimension focus on assessment of physical conditions that can help in determining
the cause of disorder mentioned in axis I and II.