technically, 'the norm' is what 60% of the people (or animals or things) who were observed or questioned reported At That Time. of course things like Height rarely change after 'adulthood', which might be from 10 yrs old to 25,, (where's the 'Norm' in that ?) it's different for males and females, too.

but all subjective things (like states of health, brain function, social acceptability, self image,) have a very flexible 'Norm' and one might as well try to find ones own personal 'Norm'... i am normally very quiet, because i am normally alone, but put me with a live person, or in a chat room, and ZOOM,, reality changes. for me that's normal

i don't like the terms "mental health" and "mental illness"... i prefer "brain chemistry dysfunctions", "cognitive impairments", and "behavioral adaptations". when i worked at a psych rehab center one time, we used to joke about the Diagnosed and the Undiagnosed, and how hard it was to tell one from the other~!

in the end, it comes down to how you feel about yourself, what you think about yourself and how well you like yourself, i guess. if you do like yourself, even if other people have a problem with that,, you are fortunate... but if you don't like yourself, no matter what other people say... how sad~

therefore, i strive to become a person i like better than the one i was yesterday~ and that of course is the advice i give others,,, because i like it~!

thanks for the thread~
Gus