Some time ago, I was catching up with a friend over coffee, after a long separation. In typical fashion, I would take the conversation into an interesting tangent, then she would, and after a few turns of this, we would backtrack to figure out what it was we were initially talking about. It's a fun game, if you ask me, and I'm used to just riding my innertube down the rapids of a conversation, to whatever interesting places it wants to take us.
I understand that not everyone can have that kind of conversation, and I try to be respectful of that. (Some readers won't believe this, but I myself have reined plenty of discussions in to a task at hand, as necessary.) However, I didn't realize my unique disposition could box me in until a label came out: "So you're ADD too! Just like me!"
I was taken a little aback. "ADD" (Attention Deficit Disorder) sounded so awfully limiting, and I didn't think she had ADD, and I hadn't thought of myself as having ADD. Granted, I was an adult past my school years by the time ADD was identified as such. It was as if I had been blackballed from society. Is this what hyperactive kids have to deal with, before they've even learned the coping skills for outside prejudices and limitations? How long had this woman lived stuck under the adhesive of a label? (ADD was just one in the litany of her personal issues at the time.)
This is what labels do. Labels and stereotypes.
Well, on to my response: "I've never been diagnosed with ADD, but if that's what they call this, I've got it to work for me!"
Just because something's different doesn't mean it needs a limiting label. What's different isn't necessarily a problem that needs a label so it can be "fixed." I'm not a clinician, but can't some disorders just be a different order?
I'm not making a plea for mass chaos: trained human reasoning requires that new information be categorized first in relation to previous knowledge. But be aware of the labels you hear, or maybe even subconsciously use, regarding others and especially regarding yourself. If I internalized every label or stereotype that applied to me, I might not leave the house. (Which was indeed the case, back in the day.)
As for my friend, I believe she is living "beyond the label" now - and thriving because of it, whether or not she realizes what she's done for herself. Her communications with me are so positive now. The only label I might suggest we wear today is "Handle with Care"!
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I definitely agree that we our lives are more than labels, however I'm just wondering about your statement as to whether "some disorders [can] just be a different order?" and aren't "necessarily a problem that needs a label so it can be 'fixed'".
ReplyDeleteI'm just wondering what disorders fall under the category of "some"? Are only psychiatric disorders classified under the category of a "different order"? If so, does that mean that psychiatric disorders such as ADD aren't legitimate medical problems that need fixing? Or do breast cancer or diabetes also qualify as "different orders"?
Perhaps I am reading to much into your blog entry. It's a medical fact that neurological disorders can affect our brains in even the most subtle of ways. Indeed, I had a growth removed a couple of years back. The growth was placing physical pressure on my temporal lobe. It caused seizures that would alter my mind state, causing panic attacks and such.
Like I said, I may be misinterpreting your entry, but it almost sounds like ADD & such are not legitimate medical disorders, but, rather, are personality quirks.
Individuals with physiological disorders of the brain are so often dismissed because their diseases are "nebulous", if you will. A broken leg can readily be seen on an x-ray, cancer can be diagnosed by biopsy. However, bipolar disorder, ADD, panic attacks, and such cannot be "seen" on film or microscope slide. As such, individuals suffering from legitimate chemical imbalances in the brain are told to "buck up", etc. Indeed, a practitioner once told me to "stop being such a baby".
I don't have ADD, but I have bipolar disorder--it's very prevalent in my family. I also had panic disorder that was the result of temporal lobe epilepsy caused by the mass putting pressure on my temporal lobe.
Psychiatric disorders can cause great suffering in the individuals afflicted with them. Society's dismissal of them as a personality quirk or weakness of will only makes it worse. Individuals with cancer or with a broken leg would never be told that they didn't "necessarily have a problem that needs a label so it can be 'fixed'".
In short, I was wondering what your view is on psychiatric disorders. Do you view ADD, bipolar disorder, etc., as being as medically "legitimate" as, say, cancer or a broken leg or not so much?
I'd be interested in any response you might have.
Thanks in advance. :)
Thanks so much for sharing your comment. The blog entries really seem too short to have made a clear distinction between conditions that don't follow the regular social script vs. conditions that require medical attention, so I think what you've brought up is pretty important.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I have to do a little disclaiming: I'm not a medical doctor, so if I inadvertently dispense medical advice, I would really ask a doctor before following it. I'm not a psychologist or psychotherapist or counselor either. These professionals are trained specifically for working with clients who need psychology, psychotherapy, or counseling. I generally try not to spout off in areas that I don't have expertise in, but if I miss something, I would strongly suggest to anyone to please ask before taking the word of my or anyone's blog as "gospel" - especially, if it just doesn't sound right to you. I am not a clinician and don't claim to be one. I'm not a person to mind as far what would be medically legitimate or not.
That being said, if something - a thought, an idea, a diagnosis, a source, whatever - doesn't sound right to you, it probably ISN'T right for you! If something doesn't feel right, then don't do it, take it, say it, or get it. And that goes for my ideas and anyone else's ideas you encounter.
By the same token, if a certain thought/idea/source/etc. really strikes you as "spot-on" - especially, if you get a tingly reaction in your gut about it - then experience has taught me to FOLLOW IT. Even if it's weird, even if it's not widely accepted, even if no one in present company believes you.
Here's where the twist on psychiatric disorders comes in: If a person is suffering from a psychiatric disorder, or even a biochemical imbalance, then how are they going to be able to distinguish between what intuitively feels right for them or not? In other words, if a medical condition is interfering with a person's sense of self and sense of their own "gut feeling," then a person needs to take appropriate measures as advised by a professional to get to a point where they have a sense of themselves again.
In the same way, even when there ISN'T a clinical reason, we sometimes use labels to "analyze out" our intuition and our sense of self. The thing to watch out for is the limitation that can come from reliance on a label. (It's a big reason why I didn't go into psychology or counseling.) If a label is preventing me from fully appreciating my own uniqueness and numbing me out of honoring my intuition, then I need to lose the label to start living beyond it.
Kind of lengthy, but I hope that more fully explains where I am coming from with the "Labels" discourse. Please feel free to comment again!