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Psychosis & Pscyhotic Behavior

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Please help me with the following questions:

1. What are some features of psychosis compared to normal behavior?

2. Are psychotic behavior different in terms and degree from normal behavior?

3. Why is there frequency of occurrence in personality changes among people with psychosis?

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Solution Summary

This solution examines the disorder of Psychosis on several dimensions e.g. features of Psychosis compared to normal behavior, if psychotic behavior is different in terms and degree from normal behavior and why there is frequency of occurrence in personality changes among people with psychosis. Supplemented with an article on Psychosis.

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1. What are some features of psychosis compared to normal behavior?
Most of the behaviors associated with psychosis deviate from what we consider 'normal behavior'. Psychosis is a psychiatric classification for a mental state in which the perception of reality is distorted. Persons experiencing a psychotic episode may experience hallucinations (often auditory or visual hallucinations), hold paranoid or delusional beliefs, experience personality changes and exhibit disorganized thinking (see thought disorder). This is sometimes accompanied by features such as a lack of insight into the unusual or bizarre nature of their behavior, difficulties with social interaction and impairments in carrying out the activities of daily living. Psychosis is usually considered by mainstream psychiatry to be a symptom of severe mental illness. Although it is not exclusively linked to any particular psychological or physical state, it is particularly associated with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder (manic depression) and severe clinical depression. It is not uncommon in cases of brain injury and may occur after drug use, particularly after drug overdose or chronic use, although certain compounds may be more likely to induce psychosis, and some individuals may show greater sensitivity than others. The direct effects of hallucinogenic drugs are not usually classified as psychosis, as long as they abate when the drug is metabolised from the body (see article attached for convenience).
In comparison to normal behavior then, psychosis is often considered 'abnormal behavior.' What is Abnormal? Before we can think about specific behavioral disorders (i.e., psychosis), we must define 'abnormal'. And what is normal behavior? Often, the following criteria, or some variant, are used to determine whether a person's behavior is abnormal (i.e., psychotic) or not:
1. Deviation from statistical norms; the word abnormal means 'away from the norm'. Many population facts are measured such as height, weight and intelligence. Most of the people fall within the middle range of intelligence, but a few are abnormally stupid. But according to this definition, a person who is extremely intelligent would be classified as abnormal. Thus in defining abnormal behavior we must consider more.
2. Deviation from social norms; every culture has certain standards for acceptable behavior; behavior that deviates from that standard is considered to be abnormal behavior. But those standards can change with time and vary from one society to another.
3. Maladaptiveness of behavior; this third criterion is how the behavior affects the well being of the individual and/or social group. Examples are a man who attempts suicide, an alcoholic who drinks so heavily that he or she cannot keep a job or a paranoid individual who tries to assassinate national leaders.
4. Personal distress; the fourth criterion considers abnormality in terms of the individual's subjective feelings, personal distress, rather than his behavior. Most people diagnosed as 'mentally ill' feel miserable, anxious, depressed and may suffer from insomnia.
In the type of abnormality called neurosis, personal distress may be the only symptom, because the individual's behavior seems normal.

Clearly, even after considering the inherent problem wit defining 'normal' and 'abnormal' behavior, psychosis and the associated behavior is a deviation from the normal behavior (i.e., perception of reality is distorted, often auditory or visual hallucinations, hold paranoid or delusional beliefs, experience personality changes and exhibit disorganized thinking, a lack of insight into the unusual or bizarre nature of their behavior, difficulties with social interaction and impairments in carrying out the activities of daily living).
2. Are psychotic behavior different in terms and degree from normal behavior?
Obviously, this is a correct assumption. Especially, when taken together as a consistent behavior pattern that persists over time. For example, everyone can become paranoid occasionally, but if it persists to the degree that one locks themselves in their house and becomes delusional thinking that everyone is out to get them or kill them, then that if beyond behavior that is normally displayed by most people. However, it often goes beyond being different in quantity (i.e., one of degree) to one of quality ("I am ...

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