What is a normal personality?

Many Psychologists regard personality and mental illness as closely related. The shadow of Freudian analysis looms over modern psychopathology, driving many psychologists to try to understand their clients' personal troubles and personalities using constructs developed to study mental illness. They believe that dark, unconscious mental forces that originated in childhood cause personality traits, personal troubles, and mental illnesses. Steven Reiss thinks problems are a normal part of life.
In The Normal Personality, Reiss argues that human beings are naturally intolerant of people who express values significantly different from their own. Because of this intolerance, psychologists and psychiatrists sometimes confuse individuality with abnormality and thus over-diagnose disorders. Reiss shows how normal motives, not anxiety or traumatic childhood experiences, underlie many personality and relationship problems, such as divorce, infidelity, combativeness, workaholism, loneliness, authoritarianism, weak leadership styles, perfectionism, underachievement, arrogance, extravagance, stuffed shirt-ism, disloyalty, disorganization, and over anxiety.

guydebord wrote:Personally, I don't believe in this "normal." When people say it what they mean is: they are normal, you are not.

Worse: people who use it assume that "normal" is actually "healthy." Is it not conceivable that many people are mentally unhealthy but are considered "normal" anyway?

I'm a bit pressed for time. I'll elaborate on this later.

Interesting
It's answer on what I have thought sometimes.

narayan wrote:What's normal varies from time to time and from place to place.

It's true.

I am now interested in that: - who is healthy?
- who can define him/herself as "normal"?

I think we can't. Even the "most normal" ones can have some condition.
It's like you could say "normal" is "perfect", doesn't it seem like that?
And even "perfect" is so relative. What is "perfectly perfect" for someone, isn't for others and so on...

For me, "normal" is just a word, normal doesn't exist, does it?
When you look at the things, you can't say they are normal, because it's so relative.

Everything has an issue. And if we consider that something what has an issue isn't normal, sorry, then nothing there is normal.

For Africans something is normal, for Asians is something else and so on.
Now, how could you go somewhere abroad and say "I am perfectly normal", but you don't know how to behave in other culture. They would say "no, you are not". And now go and teach them what is normal. I would like to know how could it work

So, from my view, there doesn't exist anything normal.

In my opinion there is no normal. But what is consideret to be "normal" for people my age is moodswings, rebelling and being exteremely stupid. I like being diffrent, using freetime to educate myself, not going to parties and other social events. I am not a loner by anymeans ( unintentionally ) but only my few friends i keep around me because they dont fit the unconfortable mold called "normal. It seems that you can be a bully, racist, redneck and stupid but still be called normal, why? Because most people are best described as those.

Whilst there can be no definite defintion as it's so general, and as someone else mentioned certain aspects cannot apply to all cultures, races, individuals etc. - I think "normal" describes a set, common group of features that the majority of people have. These features allow them to function in society successfully, interact with people and lead healthy, happy lifestyles.

To call my upbringing anything but abnormal would be completely deluded. I think we as human beings need rules, morals and set standards, otherwise society would descend into chaos. We need a level of "normality" or people would do anything they wanted!

narayan wrote:What's normal varies from time to time and from place to place. There are fads in psychology as well as everywhere else, and only time will tell what's just a passing fad and what's actual progress. What I mean by normal is this: capable of loving, working, and adapting constructively to changing conditions and different people.

That sounds to me like an excellent definition of a healthy psyche. Normal? Who gives a crap about normal? I'm not normal and neither are you. This is a good thing, if we were all the same then it'd be one boring world.

But healthy, now there's something worth aiming for. Able to have fulfilling relationships without hurting the people around you. Able to live your life without being filled with pain, fear, anger. Able to understand yourself and your feelings, so that you work as one constructive whole rather than fragments grinding against each other. Able to feel joy. Able to grieve fully and honestly and then move on after loss. That's what it means to be healthy.

[b]What is "normal"?[b]

Can't think of anyone I know that I would think is "normal".
Anyone, just like myself, most likely would see they are normal. Even if no one else does.

"Normal" could be a trick word to get you to see yourself as not "normal", according to whatever
illusional meaning you could attach to thinking other people around you are normal.

Doing so, you would be seeing yourself as not normal. Leaving yourself open to being set straight.
Your normality in yourself, would be workable against by interests outside of you. They would have
an "in" at you. You would be being made "better" by others outside of you.

Like I said, I don't see anyone I know, as "normal".
Except of course myself. Good chance I don't know anyone that thinks I'm "normal".

Normal is relative. It's also infinitely regressive. It basically means "the usual" or "the natural state" of something. It is not synonymous with "good" and not even synonymous with "correct". Things that are normal can be bad things.

Though I have to stress that there IS such a thing as normal. Everyone has their normal. It can't be avoided. We may not agree on what 'normal' is for everything, but everyone here likely has things they consider to be normal or abnormal. Behaviorally, biologically, mentally... It is normal to need sleep or feel fatigue when you have done a stressful activity. It is normal to eat when you are hungry. Would anyone consider it normal, for example, to always scream every word you say? Probably not. How about punching someone in the nose as a form of greeting? Not only harmful and inappropriate, but also abnormal, wouldn't you say?

I believe willys referring to equilibrium. Maybe not so much saturation. Yea, equilibrium.

People tend to associate the term "normal" as something good and "abnormal" as something bad. But really, it is only good or bad in the way you perceive it.

If you say normal personality means someone who is social but not overly social, talkative but not overly talkative...then someone who is hyper and talkative could say "normal" people are boring. Or the "normal" person could say the "abnormally talkative" person is annoying. Someone who is extremely quiet and reserved could say both are annoying.

Abnormal personality does not always mean harm to the person either, but it can. If you are abnormally quiet and you have no friends and this causes you to mope all day, then it's bad. But if you are content and perfectly happy being a loner and you have a friend or two...it's fine. If you're like me and you are abnormal ideas about things...as long as you present them in the proper way, there's no harm at all.