For example, when a person feels nervous and afraid, they will experience a quickening heartbeat and a sensation of blood rushing to their head. In contrast, when we feel depressed and very unhappy, we often feel a sense of tightness in our chest, making it hard to breathe comfortably. When a person is happy, they feel particularly at ease and invigorated. This means that the results of our brain activities are generally reflected in our psychological feelings, so we have come to habitually refer to this as psychology.
In 1948, the World Health Organization provided a widely accepted definition of health: “Health not only refers to the absence of physical defects and diseases but also encompasses a complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being.” Here, health is viewed as consisting of three fundamental elements: physical health, mental health, and social adaptation, rather than simply physical health alone.
So, what is mental health? Mental health refers to “the individual’s ability to maintain a good psychological state in various environments.” In other words, it means that a person can maintain a positive, optimistic, and proactive attitude in all circumstances. When external conditions change, they can promptly adjust their mindset to harmonize with the surrounding environment. This is mental health. If an individual is experiencing psychological issues, it indicates that abnormal psychological phenomena have occurred.
In general, psychological abnormalities are typically due to imbalances in brain structure and function, or distorted and skewed responses to objective reality. This reflects abnormalities in personal self-concept and certain abilities, as well as obstacles in social interpersonal relationships and personal life adaptation—that is, adaptive disorders. The symptoms and disorders arising from psychological abnormalities are closely linked to the body’s autonomic nervous system.
So, how can we clearly discern normal psychology from abnormal psychology? In real life, this is not an easy task. First, when distinguishing between abnormal and normal psychology, the differences are often relative; in some cases, there may be essential distinctions between the two. However, in many situations, the differences may only be a matter of degree. Secondly, the manifestations of abnormal psychology may also be influenced by various uncertain factors.
For example, biological, psychological, social, and environmental factors can influence the perspectives we take in consciousness and vision, leading to inconsistent standards. Currently, regarding purely psychological issues, there are no specialized instruments that are professional or specific for clinical diagnosis, and it primarily relies on doctors using their clinical experience to subjectively judge and differentiate.
If you believe you have psychological issues in your daily life and work, you may feel that your psychological state is quite abnormal. Since you can feel this, it generally suggests that you probably do not have major psychological problems.
Because individuals with fundamentally normal psychology can fully perceive their psychological activities, especially noticing differences between their current and past psychological reactions, as well as recognizing their psychological changes compared to others. However, not believing that one has psychological problems does not necessarily prove that one’s psychology is normal and healthy; other indicators must also be taken into account.
However, psychological measurement also has significant errors. The singularity and repeatability of scales represent major flaws in psychological testing, as biased psychological measurements also have deficiencies in reliability and validity. Therefore, the data used in psychological measurement scales, especially during doctor diagnoses, require reasonable analysis and validation of their accuracy. Based on the effectiveness of current psychological testing, it can only be used as a reference and should never replace a doctor’s clinical diagnosis.
In fact, this standard is the most objective way to regard psychological problems as somatic diseases in medical standards. Certain psychological phenomena or behaviors manifested in individuals can provide evidence for pathological anatomy or pathophysiological changes. It is also possible to consider that a person has mental disorders; their psychological expressions and behaviors can be viewed as symptoms of disease, with the causes of disease being attributed to dysfunction in the human brain. This standard is widely adopted by doctors for clinical diagnosis, but its drawback is that its diagnostic scope is very narrow, making it ineffective for conditions like neuroses and personality disorders.
In our daily life and work, we constantly express various psychological activities. If others perceive someone as having psychological abnormalities, especially when many people share a consistent view, it raises questions about the psychological anomalies experienced by this individual.
