There's nothing wrong with being a little weird. Because psychological disorders are perceived as a continuum, people may be concerned when their own way of thinking and behaving does not align with idealized notions of health. But some variants may be healthy or even adaptive, the researchers said in a review article published today in the journal Trends in Cognitive Science . Although it may also complicate the identification of pathological normalizing markers.
"I don't think there's a set standard," says Yale University clinical psychologist Avram Holmes, the senior author of the paper. "Every behavior we do has some degree of variability." There are many reasons why natural selection does not reach an isolated behavior or characteristic. "Any behavior is not just negative, or just positive, it depends on the context you're in," he said.
For example, thrill-seeking and a willingness to take risks in order to gain new and exciting experiences are often considered negative, and excessive thrill-seeking is associated with behaviors such as substance abuse, crime, and physical harm. But there are also potentially positive outcomes, Holmes noted, that these individuals generally have more social support, are more outgoing, and exercise more.
Anxiety is the same. "In social situations, you may be more restrained and may find it more difficult to form friendships," says Holmes. However, the same anxiety, if you're in a work environment, is what drives you to prepare for a big speech. If you're in school, that same anxiety motivates you to study for exams.
The researchers also pointed out that people have more control over their environment, which means it is possible to survive in an environment that is conducive to the functioning of the brain. But if variation in either trait is normal, it raises questions about disorderly behavior.
These also complicate the search for biomarkers of mental illness. "What we want to do is build a multivariate approach that considers multiple domains of human behavior simultaneously to see if we can improve our ability to predict outcomes," Holmes said. (Source: Tang Yichen from Science Network)