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Why Anti-Authoritarians are Diagnosed as Mentally Ill (2012)

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Re: Why Anti-Authoritarians are Diagnosed as Mentally Ill (2012)

#161

Post by DanBC »

neilk wrote: post #3

I sometimes ask mental health professionals what the converse of Oppositional Defiant Disorder is. At what point do we recognize a disorder in a child who is unnaturally compliant and obedient? No answer so far. I ask because I think I had this. When I was a young prodigy I had the mentality of a performing seal. It's true that some people have difficulty controlling themselves, and they do need help. But the lack of…

> At what point do we recognize a disorder in a child who is unnaturally compliant and obedient?

Typically one of the important parts of diagnosis is "does it cause a problem for the patient?"

> it is about institutional convenience.

Misdiagnosis is a serious problem. But your comment is weird. Giving someone a diagnosis is not convenient. That person is now able to get medical treatment, maybe disability benefits, maybe time off work, etc. Once you diagnose someone you have a duty to try to provide treatment. It's far more convenient to say that people do not have a mental health problem and release them.

Re: Why Anti-Authoritarians are Diagnosed as Mentally Ill (2012)

#162

Post by JacksonGariety »

bjhoops1 wrote: post #65
betterunix wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that a child will not be brought to a therapist for following the rules; only a child who violates rules too frequently will ever see the inside of a psychiatrist's office. A child who always does what they are told will be rewarded , and will likely be rewarded further if their reaction to their rewards is, "What are my next set of instructions?"

This reminds me of a poem my favorite Math professor used to share, about a little boy who was always instructed exactly how to draw a picture of a flower: http://home.bresnan.net/~cabreras/theboy.htm

Does anyone know why the alternative version on that page has an unhappy ending and the original version has a happy ending?

(See the footnote at the bottom of this page: http://home.bresnan.net/~cabreras/theboy.htm)

Who wrote the alternate? Why would the author approve of one but not the other?

Re: Why Anti-Authoritarians are Diagnosed as Mentally Ill (2012)

#163

Post by JacksonGariety »

jmillikin wrote: post #57
jessriedel wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, sure. But would be ever prescribe prescription drugs for this? Everything you're describing is characterized as a personality trait , whereas the OP (who I hardly fully agree with) is claiming that anti-authoritarian sentiments are labeled a disease . Obviously, this makes a big difference in how these phenomena are treated.

> Sure, sure. But would be ever prescribe prescription > drugs for this? If there was a drug shown to improve self-esteem in children, it would likely become one of the most profitable drugs of all time. > Everything you're describing is characterized as a > personality trait, whereas the OP (who I hardly fully > agree with) is claiming that anti-authoritarian > sentiments are labeled a disease. ADHD and ODD aren't d…

> If there was a drug shown to improve self-esteem in children, it would likely become one of the most profitable drugs of all time.

If the drug worked it wouldn't be very popular as children would start dropping out of school to join Y Combinator and the drug would be recalled for having horrible defects.

The baby boomers idea of self-esteem is disgusting.

Re: Why Anti-Authoritarians are Diagnosed as Mentally Ill (2012)

#164

Post by Stratoscope »

csense wrote: post #90
bjhoops1 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This reminds me of a poem my favorite Math professor used to share, about a little boy who was always instructed exactly how to draw a picture of a flower: http://home.bresnan.net/~cabreras/theboy.htm

This "poem" is depressing. Off topic: It's never made sense to me why people call things that don't rhyme "poems." As far as I'm concerned, this is an essay, not a poem.

Poetics aside, I have to agree with you about how the poem is a very sad story. My explorations in free verse elsewhere in the thread may be a way to cover up my tears.

My daughter is very bright, but when she was in grade school she'd sometimes have trouble with a homework problem because the textbook didn't explain a concept clearly.

So I'd tell her how I've always found it helpful to read multiple sources on a topic. If one of them doesn't click with the way I think, another one probably will. And just reading multiple references that explain things differently helps reinforce the concepts.

She wanted nothing to do with it! She only wanted to hear about the way "they" explained it - the textbook, the teacher, the school - the right way to do it. Nothing else.

I guess I wish she'd gotten a teacher like the one at the end of that story, early on.

Re: Why Anti-Authoritarians are Diagnosed as Mentally Ill (2012)

#165

Post by LekkoscPiwa »

Jayschwa wrote: post #155
LekkoscPiwa wrote: post #130

I had a teacher in High School who was a genius. He wanted us to think independently. One time he assigned a homework to the class where each of us had to study a mental illness of our choice. Mine was narcissism. And we had to go to a psychologist or psychiatrist, pretend that we have the disease and the task was to be convincing enough to get diagnosis. More than 80% of students passed. We were all officialy crazy…

What a great lesson. I'm a little jealous. How did you prevent this from becoming a black mark on your medical history though?

Poland is where I went to High School. No such a thing as medical history accessible to everyone. Yes, the doctor I went to, will have the paperwork. But she doesn't need to share it with anyone else. Unless someone will ask her specifically for my case. Which won't happen unless I tell someone I went to her for a diagnosis. There is no central "repo" for the paperwork, if you will. You may keep records for your own use, but then of course you wouldn't include stuff like that.

I was 17. Went there with a friend. He was pretending to be depressed. As far as I remember she asked him to go for more evaluation at a hospital. Remember laughing on our way back that he was way too good at it.

Other types of homework we had from this teacher - he taught us History - were also interesting. For example we had to go to Aushwitz Museum and not going was automatic not passing to another class. He claimed "unless you see it you won't understand it". So we had all to go. Whether we liked it or not. Another day there was an anniversary of this event: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacification_of_Wujek We had to go and pay respects at the actual site. It was quite moving.

The teacher was ww2 veteran, hardcore anti-communist. How they allowed him to teach history in communistic poland is a mystery to me. He was great. You asked any one of us what our top 3 favorite subjects were and I'm pretty sure most of us would say History.

He did the thing with psychiatrist/psychologist because he was placed by them in mental institution in early 1950s. Many anti-communists were killed or jailed in Poland in 1945-1953. But also many were diagnosed with schizofrenia and forcefully medicated and hospitalized for years. I think that was some type of twisted revenge he was taking on them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_abuse_of_psychiatry_i...

http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2012/8/19/135066.html

Re: Why Anti-Authoritarians are Diagnosed as Mentally Ill (2012)

#166

Post by jlgreco »

ucee054 wrote: post #116
thecoffman wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you would find that there are a subset of people, myself included, that don't find that notion so insane. If you accept the idea that the purpose of the 2nd Amendment is to allow the citizenry to overthrow their government then having the government restrict what citizens can and cannot purchase is somewhat nonsensical. Historically speaking, government restriction on firearm ownership is a relatively new thi…

What was happening to the Native Americans at this time?

They were spending their time being shot, primarily by the federal government.

Re: Why Anti-Authoritarians are Diagnosed as Mentally Ill (2012)

#167

Post by JacksonGariety »

katbyte wrote: post #143
LekkoscPiwa wrote: post #130

I had a teacher in High School who was a genius. He wanted us to think independently. One time he assigned a homework to the class where each of us had to study a mental illness of our choice. Mine was narcissism. And we had to go to a psychologist or psychiatrist, pretend that we have the disease and the task was to be convincing enough to get diagnosis. More than 80% of students passed. We were all officialy crazy…

I have a friend who goes to i think 3 different doctors pretending to have various mental illness to get a variety of prescription pills he then sells with a huge markup. ADHD --> adderall/vyvanse anxiety --> ativan/xanax/etc insomnia --> sleeping pills

My friend Bob Sacamano sells Russian hats in Battery park!

Re: Why Anti-Authoritarians are Diagnosed as Mentally Ill (2012)

#168

Post by LekkoscPiwa »

JacksonGariety wrote: post #167
katbyte wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a friend who goes to i think 3 different doctors pretending to have various mental illness to get a variety of prescription pills he then sells with a huge markup. ADHD --> adderall/vyvanse anxiety --> ativan/xanax/etc insomnia --> sleeping pills

My friend Bob Sacamano sells Russian hats in Battery park!

Is that schizophrenia or bipolar disorder? I'm sure it must be something! Let's medicate him as that's waaay to disturbing.

Re: Why Anti-Authoritarians are Diagnosed as Mentally Ill (2012)

#169

Post by mikegagnon »

blaze33 wrote: post #119

Thanks for sharing. Actually “issues with authority” is exactly what got me fired ~2 years ago after "assessing whether or not authorities actually know what they are talking about, are honest, and care about […] people". They didn't. On any level. The worst part is how much time and care is needed to fully recover from the rejection feeling and depression that can ensue.

Working at a place like that is a curse. Leaving is a blessing. Getting fired is a blessing in disguise.

Are you working at a better place now?

Re: Why Anti-Authoritarians are Diagnosed as Mentally Ill (2012)

#170

Post by brazzy »

csense wrote: post #90
bjhoops1 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This reminds me of a poem my favorite Math professor used to share, about a little boy who was always instructed exactly how to draw a picture of a flower: http://home.bresnan.net/~cabreras/theboy.htm

This "poem" is depressing. Off topic: It's never made sense to me why people call things that don't rhyme "poems." As far as I'm concerned, this is an essay, not a poem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metre_(poetry)
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