Are there things you say, think or do that may seem taboo and perhaps a little twisted? Gayle talks about taboo behavior with writer Kathleen McGowan, who wrote the article "Typically Twisted" for the July/August 2008 issue of Psychology Today magazine. Kathleen explains why some "twisted" thoughts and behaviors may be more common that you think.





In her article, Kathleen explores seven "twisted" behaviors that many people admit to.

• I have no ambition.
• I have a morbid sense of humor.
• I'm not into sex.
• I have unusual sexual fantasies.
• I've got a torturous secret.
• I like to be alone.
• I love one child more than the other. 
  

While some of these behaviors may seem dysfunctional, Kathleen says in most cases they are not. "Dysfunctional behavior is something that gets in the way of your relationships and make you miserable and functional behavior is anything that doesn't," she says. 

If your sexual fantasies include pedophilia—that's dysfunctional, Kathleen says. If they are about taking part in bondage with your partner, Kathleen says you may be surprised to know that's typically functional, normal behavior. "A lot of these things that we all feel deep down inside are horrible little things about us are so common," she says.

So the next time you start to let your deep, dark secret eat away at you or you retreat to your house to be alone and love it—don't feel like you are being weird or "not normal". "There are a lot of things we all share in common that are extremely common even though they may by social definitions seem a little bit strange," she says.