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emo powa


Note the many moral judgements that are necessary to make any diagnosis according to this definition: “actively defies”, “deliberately annoys” and so on. These are not deemed to be disease symptoms when a child does them to an intending kidnapper, or to the parents' political opponents at a demonstration, for example. These states of the child's brain become diseases only when a certain condition – disapproval – exists in the brain of another person – the parent or other authority. The treatment is also metaphorical and for ODD it consists of conversations and discipline. Again, this is very different from other diseases: bacteria are not great conversationalists, one cannot debate diabetes, but apparently ODD can be disposed of by talking to it.

The entire purpose of these diseases is, in fact, to give these vile “treatments” a gloss of medical and scientific respectability. Then no attention need be paid to whether the child is right to behave defiantly toward his parents in specific cases. No effort needs to be wasted on such fripperies as rational argument or considering that the child might have a point if they repeatedly refuse to obey their parents or say that they are bored in school. How very convenient for the force-users.

There is one last oddity to note. Professor Michael Fitzgerald of Dublin University has recently said that geniuses such as Socrates, Charles Darwin, and Andy Warhol may have had a mental disease called Asperger's syndrome characterised by not wanting to talk to people and having “restricted” interests with “abnormal” intensity. Now, suppose that having Asperger's syndrome for a while would help you to complete a great work on a “restricted” interest since you wouldn't have to spend time on conversations that would distract you from your work and you would be able to focus intensely on it. Might one not prefer to have Asperger's symdrome to being mentally healthy under such circumstances?

What does that make a person who “cures” it by force?

Alright, I'll try not to make this too short for the benefit of being interesting.

Yes, you could say that Asperger's, ADD, and other illnesses are fake, based on the facts that their symptoms deal with relatively lucid things. However I, along with millions of other people, live in America, and there are other mitigating factors to be considered that you, my dear, may not have considered.
We live in a society where mental health is wrought with stigma and looked down upon. I know that for me it was bad enough when I got diagnosed with depression. However Asperger's and/or PDD took the cake for me. It doesn't just deal with the neurotransmitters, as you know, it goes into brain development. And kids like me, 16 year old me, don't want to be labeled that. AT ALL. In fact, I've avoided it like the plague for the past year.
With that in mind, I don't think a high percentage of people would be simply fine and dandy with a diagnosis that likens one to being put in the same groups as those who are mentally retarded.

Another issue you brought up: that it could be just natural persuasion and that is wrong to change it. I have thought about this. However I have witnessed in myself (I'm not speaking for others) that it's not exactly the most beneficial to be socially isolated anyway. I'm sure many kids with Asperger's could be the new Einsteins or whatever, but many, many more are alone and perhaps suffering like me.

Keep that in mind.

Psychiatry is an enterprise as well as a field, and it depends on the people. I suppose it'd be up to oneself to decide if you wanted to remain untreated. I've had psychiatrists listen to me as much as I've needed. But my personal suggestion is that, even though your ideas are worth consideration, don't get carried away with the idea that the au natural Upcoming Prodigy With Asperger's is better off as a person. Forgive me, but such a notion even seems a little selfish to me.

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