Psychology and Wellness: The Trouble With the Idea of "Normal"

It's funny how readily our cultures and societies slap "labels" on people's choices and behaviors, and turn those labels into *medical or psychological conditions!

Not so long ago, I found myself sitting in my doctor's waiting room, reading an article in some random out-of-date psychology magazine. I don't remember which magazine, and I barely remember the overall gist of the article (about finding your ideal weight and diet based on your temperament, or something), but I do remember the frequent references to assorted things that were described as "falling outside the norm."

Having very little else to do while I waited — everything seems to take longer since Covid-19 started — I got sidetracked into thinking about how "normal" has become one of the most misused words in our culture, and how we've taken to using a proliferation of "normalizing" to excuse almost any and every difficulty the occurs as simply part of being human, rather than dealing with it.

Normalization has become the approach of choice for an ever-increasing number of people who langour in the world of victimology and learned helplessness.

The notion of "normal" actually seems to be moving all over the map.

We "widen" definitions in some areas in order to allow people who actually aren't very normal, to feel normal.

Let's face it, we wouldn't want anyone to feel "excluded," would we?

Paradoxically, we narrow normalcy in other areas, so a different group of people can be pathologized, rather than living normal lives.

Goodness, we wouldn't want to deny someone access to Prozac to numb out their negative feelings over their neighbor's dog pooping in their yard, would we?

Of course, since we live in the days of "Political Correctness" and "Social Justice," what I am exploring here might be considered inflammatory and practically blasphemous to some people. Everyone should be afforded equal access to having a pathology, or not having a pathology, right? Regardless of whether or not they actually have a pathology... right?

Before you get your shorts tied in a knot, I am certainly not attacking anyone who has genuinely serious problems in their life; many of us do. I am merely attacking the way a growing number of people are using the label "normal" as an excuse to not deal with "The Stuff of Life," from weight problems to an assortment of emotional and psychological issues.

It seems to me that "normalization" has taken on near-epidemic proportions, in modern society. I am not just talking about the use of the term, I am talking about the inclusiveness of it.

Where 30 years ago an "abnormal" behavior pattern might have referred to the 1-2% "extreme end" of a pattern, today it possibly refers to as much as 10-20%. Or maybe more. Sometimes it even strikes me that the "normal" people within a population are the minority, not the majority.

The I started thinking about my own "abnormalities."

By most measures, my personality (and physical traits) includes at least 3-4 "statistical outlier" traits that might have been described merely as "quirks" some 40 years ago, but today gets me pursued by "experts" trying to convince me that I have some kind of "syndrome" I should seek "treatment" for.

On the other hand, if I mention that it wouldn't hurt me to lose 20lbs, other people jump up and insist that my weight is actually within the realm of "normal," lest my desire to lose weight inadvertently "insults" someone else's insistence that the extra 70lbs they carry actually are "normal" and "height-weight proportionate."

Sometimes it's really tough to know what's actually acceptable!

To be honest, I am not only tired of being "normalized," I'm tired of what seems to be a growing paranoia, vis-a-vis anyone who doesn't fit some very narrowly defined criteria of How To Be. Why have we become so obsessed with "categorizing" everyone into neat little pigeonholes... and then judging those who don't fit into aforesaid holes?

Frankly, I'm tempted to just say "bite me!" and ask these people to instead consider whether or not I am a content human being, living the life I want.

Of course, that would probably get me classified as having Antisocial Personality Disorder... so I'd better be careful...!

Thanks for reading, and have a great remainder of your week!

How about YOU? What do you think is "normal" and "not normal?" Do those terms even make sense? Do you think our definitions of "healthy" have changed, in recent decades? Do leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — NOT A CROSSPOST!!!)
Created at 20210629 00:30 PDT
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