What Does a Whole Bubble Off-Level Look Like?

Bubble Trivia Question # 2: What is the difference between “crazy” and “eccentric?” (answer at end of article)

            The definitive answer to what a Whole Bubble Off-Level looks like is, “It depends.”

I know that is not very comforting.  We want definitive answers to our questions about mental health and mental illness.  There are times when the answer is pretty clear.  In the movie “The Silence of the Lambs” Anthony Hopkins’ character, Hannibal Lecter, was definitely a whole bubble off-level.  At least most of us would agree that he was.

            This is what the problem is.  There is a Psychological Truism that says:  “All behaviors can be classified as either normal or abnormal depending on the setting in which they occur.”  Are there any settings in which cannibalism is normal behavior?

            When we look at another person we are making judgments all of the time..  There are people that we think of as off-level, even if we use a different term to describe it.  “A little bit odd.”  “A lot of emotional baggage.”  “Not playing with a full deck.”  “A screw loose.”  If we interact with this person on a regular basis we learn to make accommodations for the behavior. For example, we know that Aunt Betty has an irrational fear of dogs.  When she comes to visit we lock Fido in the back bedroom, even though Fido is the most docile dog in the whole world.

            So, most of the time, most people can function pretty well in society.  The people that know them well make accommodations.  The people that don’t know them well may never bump up against the off-level behavior

When these off-level behaviors escalate to the point that they deviate so far from our social expectations that the person is perceived as no longer able to relate to others, is in significant distress, or is emotionally disabled we start thinking of them as a Whole Bubble Off- Level. 

There is more than one official category for Whole Bubble Off-Level behaviors.  One of them is Personality Disorder.  One of these is Paranoid Personality Disorder.  This disorder is characterized by irrational suspicions and mistrust of others.  A person who believes things like:   “The clerks in stores always short-change me.”  “Everybody is out to get me.”  The FBI is watching me.” would fall into this category. 

If a person with Paranoid Personality Disorder comes to the attention of the mental health profession there will be attempts to help him.  Or he may just be labeled “eccentric” and left alone.

On the next post we will look at some more Whole Bubble Off-Level disorders.

Answer to Bubble Trivia Question # 2:  Often the answer to that question is – money and social status.  A woman who lives in the house built by her wealthy ancestors, with a trust fund to keep her comfortable, may collect cats.  Her neighbors might label her “eccentric.”  A woman with poor social connections in a poor neighborhood” hoards” cats, and her neighbors probably think she is “crazy.”