Where’s the line?
In modern Western psychology, it’s actually very hard to clearly draw a line between behaviour and mental disorder.
Why?
Because the main tool psychologists and psychiatrists use the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” (DSM) is essentially a list of conditions. But that list isn’t fixed or absolute.
It changes over time. What counts as a disorder in one edition might be redefined, moved, or even removed in the next.
The way conditions are categorized is often debated and sometimes controversial.
So when we ask, “Is this behaviour, or is it a disorder?” there isn’t always a clear answer from within Western psychology itself.
It gets even more complicated because different areas of psychology use the same words in different ways.
Take personality, for example:
In everyday language, people talk about labels like narcissistic or borderline.
But in personality psychology, personality is usually described in broader traits like introversion, extroversion, or emotional stability.
So are so called “personality disorders” just extreme versions of normal traits?
Do these traits exist in everyone to some degree?
Can personality actually be changed?
The honest answer to many of these questions is: we don’t really know.
And that’s just one category there are many others in the DSM, each with its own uncertainties.
The bigger point:
Psychology today is often treated as a source of certainty, almost like it has definitive answers about human behaviour.
But in reality, it’s a field that is still evolving, with many open questions and limitations.
Dr.Francesca Bocca-Aldaqre & Shaykh Shadee Elmasry
Moro Blanco 
Leave a comment