maladjustment
Failure to fit
Maladjustment is a failure to fit well with one's environment or circumstances—the state of being poorly adapted.
The term appears most often in psychology and education, describing someone who struggles to cope with social demands or life situations: The counselor noted signs of emotional maladjustment.
A maladjusted person has difficulty functioning within expected norms.
State of being isolated
- isolationComplete separation from others
- estrangementEmotional separation between people
- marginalizationRelegation to powerless periphery
- exclusionBeing barred from participation
withdrawal · disconnection · outsider · nonconformity · deviance · antisocial · misfit · outcast
Opposition between parties
- discordLack of agreement
- frictionResistance between touching surfaces
- tensionStretched or strained state
- hostilityAntagonistic disposition toward others
antagonism · dysfunction · strife · disharmony · incompatibility · turbulence · contention · dispute
Abnormal or unhealthy operation
- disorderAbsence of organization
- neurosisFunctional mental disorder
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
- depressionProlonged low state
maladaptation · pathology · disturbance · impairment · dysregulation · instability · compulsion · obsession
Labored effort against resistance
- copingManaging under strain
- frustrationDispleasure from blocked efforts
- adversitySevere difficulty or suffering
- hardshipSuffering from difficult circumstances
difficulty · challenge · setback · resilience · survival · adaptation · fitting in · acculturation
alienation
State of being isolated
- isolationComplete separation from others
- estrangementEmotional separation between people
- marginalizationRelegation to powerless periphery
exclusion · withdrawal · disconnection · outsider · nonconformity · deviance · antisocial · misfit · outcast · loner
conflict
Opposition between parties
- discordLack of agreement
- frictionResistance between touching surfaces
- tensionStretched or strained state
hostility · antagonism · dysfunction · strife · disharmony · incompatibility · turbulence · contention · dispute · disagreement
dysfunction
Abnormal or unhealthy operation
- disorderAbsence of organization
- neurosisFunctional mental disorder
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
depression · maladaptation · pathology · disturbance · impairment · dysregulation · instability · compulsion · obsession · phobia
struggle
Labored effort against resistance
- copingManaging under strain
- frustrationDispleasure from blocked efforts
- adversitySevere difficulty or suffering
hardship · difficulty · challenge · setback · resilience · survival · adaptation · fitting in · acculturation · assimilation
- imbalanceimbalance, disequilibrium, disproportion, asymmetry, lopsidedness
- deviancedeviance, perversion, perversity, aberration, abnormality
- dysfunctiondysfunction, malfunction, breakdown, failure, defect
maladjustmentadjustment
Alteration to improve fit
adaptation · psychological health · mental health · emotional stability · resilience
maladjustmentintegration
Combining into a whole
conformity · fitting in · assimilation · acculturation · social integration