So it may have been a Risk with yesterday’s content, but I use it to bring up something. From good old Webster in this case

Simple Definition of normal

• : usual or ordinary : not strange
• : mentally and physically healthy

2 a :  according with, constituting, or not deviating from a norm, rule, or principle b :  conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern

• 3 :  occurring naturally

• 4 a :  of, relating to, or characterized by average intelligence or development b :  free from mental disorder :

My question is since it seems people have this incessant need to be Normal, and to stick together at times on something because of the sake of normalcy. Before going any further I do not have any psychology background except getting my own mind to run semi smoothly. Normal for me though is one of those things that really when you think about it does not have a whole lot of usage in conversations nowadays.

Let me explain, for example from the pieces that have been gathered about the term what stands out to you because for me 2a and 4a seem to be at odds at least when I think about it like this. First of all no one has the pristine bill of Mental health. There is small things and large things that are accounted for enough that no one is perfectly normal.

According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry the odds of preschoolers and school age children showing it is three to five percent. Here is the page if you want to give it a read.

http://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Resource_Centers/ADHD_Resource_Center/ADHD_A_Guide_for_Families/How_Common_is_ADHD.aspx

Mind you this is not taking in to accounts environmental risk factors, genetic information, or personal context in relation to experiences. These things can definitely add to it and if you want read in more detail then below is an excerpt from a book called Reducing Risks for Mental Disorders: Frontiers for Preventative Intervention Research. The excerpt is called Risk and Protective Factors for the Onset of Mental Disorders.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK236306/

It is an older source being written in 1994, but it brings up some fair points that not being so up to date on such research got me to think on these things. Now without going to a fancy seminar in my own right there is not a whole lot of work on exactly on average how common these things are with various numbers being thrown around. The Mental health association of Forsyth County claims that more then 60 million Americans may suffer from a mental illness in any given year. Putting that in perspective the last estimate from the United Nations puts us at 324 million while the census website back that number.

That means just taking those two numbers in to account that means we are looking just about One in every five and that makes it a little more sobering because some of those people will need therapy and should go out to get out while others think that nothing is wrong and that they can be productive, creative, and safe members of society using the differences in how there mind is wired to some benefit that may be harder for those without certain conditions. Try to find what works for you, if you need help go find it, and if you don’t need help be the best person that you can. That’s really what all this boils down to. Do not worry about being normal, and instead worry about what you can do to really make yourself the best you possible. That will take time. You will have to learn more about yourself.

I hope you all become the best you can be.