The Case of Social Awkwardness: Checking the Level of Abnormality

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Table of Contents

Introduction: The Challenges of Communication
On the Norm and the Abnormal: The Patient’s State
Checking for the DSM-IV Syndrome: The Elements That Match
The Reasonability of DSM-IV Classification: Pros and Cons
Conclusion: Communication Skills Can Be Learned
Reference List

Introduction: The Challenges of Communication

Of all the challenges that a human being can face, the process of communication is by far the most complicated one. Fearing the deplorable consequences of misunderstanding, come people might become socially inactive an even lose their conversational skills.

Therefore, analyzing the existing instances of communication, like the ones that the subject of the given essay does, problems is a step towards eliminating difficulties of socializing (Buitelaar, Kan and Asherson, 2011).

On the Norm and the Abnormal: The Patient’s State

Taking a closer look at the patient’s state, one must admit that, out of the six symptoms that an abnormal behavior is followed by, Mr. B has only two, which arte maladaptiveness and mild violations of the societal norms, such as the inability to maintain a conversation and to respond to the actions of the people surrounding him.

Therefore, it is rather doubtful that Mr. B has a mantel disorder – the man is rather not used to socializing with the other people, which could have been caused by the specifics of his life experience.

Since the peculiarity of Mr. B’s behavior cannot be described as a “harmful dysfunction (Butcher, Mineka & Hooley, 2010, p. 227),” there are reasons to claim that Mr. B’s behavior is weird, yet does not pose a threat to the society and to Mr. B himself.

Checking for the DSM-IV Syndrome: The Elements That Match

It is worth mentioning that, of the six elements that are supposedly the obvious marks of a mental disorder, the official definition of the latter incorporates only four, which are the deviancy, the suffering, that is, the unceasing feeling of distress (Butcher, Mineka & Hooley, 2010, p. 6), and is obviously a kind of deviancy, i.e., “psychological, or biological dysfunction in the individual (Butcher, Mineka & Hooley, 2010, p. 6).”

Therefore, according to the mental disorder symptoms mentioned in the definition by Butcher, Mineka & Hooley (2010), it can be considered that Mr. B has slight deviancy which can be depicted as a mild form of mental disorder.

The Reasonability of DSM-IV Classification: Pros and Cons

Speaking of the classification reasonability, one must mention that the descriptions the manual provides are rather vast. To the authors’ credit, the DSM-IV has major improvements and pays particular attention to the learning disorders (Hersneb and Beidel, 2012), which makes the manual extremely useful.

On the one hand, it must be admitted that certain information presented in the DSM-IV has been outdated, since the DSM-V is already in use (Rappoport and Ismond, 1996).

In addition, despite the thorough and objective classification and the detailed description of the thirteen groups of patients, the manual is unlikely to offer objective information, since each case is unique and can incorporate a number of features usually referred to as the manifestations of a different disorder (Reid & Wise, 1995).

Therefore, the DSM-IV is not an ultimate problem solution in itself, but a decent source to refer to when dealing with a complicated case.

Conclusion: Communication Skills Can Be Learned

Therefore, it must be admitted that there are considerable reasons to use the DSM-IV manual and treat it as a valuable source of ideas for the treatment of people with ADHD. Helping to differentiate between socially awkward people and the people with mental disorders, DSM-IV proves a decent guide.

In addition, once incorporating the existing knowledge about the way a person applies the newly acquired social skills and the reasons that hinder one to apply them, people will be able to develop the ultimate plan for helping people with ADHD (Rubin, 2005).

Reference List

Buitelaar, J. K.,Kan, C. C., & Asherson, P. (2011). ADHD in adults: Characterization, diagnosis, and treatment. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Butcher, J. N., Mineka, S., & Hooley, J. M. (2010). Abnormal psychology (14^th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Hersneb, M., & Beidel, D. C. (2012). Adult psychopathology and diagnosis. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Rappoport, J. L., & Ismond, D. E. (1996). DSM-IV training guide for diagnosis for childhood disorders. New York, NY: Psychology Press.

Rubin, E. H. (2005). Adult psychiatry. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Reid, W. H., & Wise, M. G. (1995). DSM-IV training guide. New York, NY: Psychology Press.

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