To understand psychological disorders, we need to examine what is meant by abnormal behavior. Consider the behavior of the following three individuals:

• Thirty-year-old Ruth has a longstanding feeling of contamination that compels her to carry out numerous cleansing activities each day (Leon, 1990). She becomes intensely uncomfortable when she notices any dirt on herself or in her immediate environment. Whenever she detects the presence of even the smallest bit of dirt, she thoroughly washes her hands and arms. If she finds any dirt in her apartment, she feels compelled to scrub it from top to bottom, then shower in a rigidly specific manner. She also feels contaminated after using the bathroom, doing housework, or cooking, again feeling compelled to wash herself after these activities. Currently, she is washing her hands at least 3 to 4 times an hour, showering 6 to 7 times a day, and thoroughly cleaning her apartment at least twice a day. She reports that her life is very restricted because most of the time she feels driven to carry out these cleansing activities.
• Thirty-year-old Janet has been divorced for about a year. She is raising her three children and recently resumed her college education on a part-time basis (Oltmanns, Neale, & Davison, 1986). Her return to college didn't last very long, however. One of her children, 2-year-old Adam, was having sleep-related problems, so she began spending considerable time with him. Janet's mood had become depressed when her husband asked for a divorce because he had fallen in love with a younger woman. She felt sad, discouraged, and lonely. The feeling became more severe just prior to her withdrawal from college. She has bouts of crying, in some cases for long periods. Nothing seems to cheer her up, she doesn't have any interest in her friends, and she sees her children as more burdensome than ever. In her current situation, the future looks bleak.
• Twenty-seven-year-old Jim is an unemployed, single man who says that what really bothers him is that he has a special power (Gorenstein, 1997). He says that he can influence other people, even endanger them, with the way he breathes. He believes he has to go to great lengths to avoid people so that he won't put them in jeopardy. He currently has isolated himself from others by secluding himself in a room at his parents' house. Jim doesn't like avoiding the world but feels he has no other choice. Jim explains that it is like having God's power but with none of the desire or wisdom to use it. He comes out of his room only for occasional meals, bathroom visits, and church services. He doesn't want his power to fall into malevolent hands, which he sees as another reason for not appearing in public.

1		Would you agree that the behavior of all three of these individuals is abnormal? If so, what would you base your judgment on?