Are "free thinking" and "above average creativity" real mental illnesses?
The manual that every psychiatry student studies, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR Manual) labels free thinkers, non conformers, civil disobedient advocates, those that question authority, and people considered hostile toward the government (aka Oath Keepers, Tea Party Members, Libertarians . . . ?) as mentally ill with the illness titled “oppositional defiant disorder” or ODD.
Is Free Thinking A Mental Illness?
The article asks a simple question, ARE WE GETTING SICKER and I have to wonder if that is in fact what is happening or are we just so worried about labeling people that we've become idiots?
The manual that every psychiatry student studies, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR Manual) labels free thinkers, non conformers, civil disobedient advocates, those that question authority, and people considered hostile toward the government (aka Oath Keepers, Tea Party Members, Libertarians . . . ?) as mentally ill with the illness titled “oppositional defiant disorder” or ODD.
Is Free Thinking A Mental Illness?
An excerpt from the linked article:
I'm curious about these new mental illnesses because one of my employees has a daughter who was recently institutionalized for several days, apparently she was disobedient at school. My daughter has a friend who has been out of school for the past 4+ weeks for 'treatment' and it seems like most people I talk to know at least one person who is being treated for some disorder.New mental illnesses identified by the DSM-IV include arrogance, narcissism, above-average creativity, cynicism, and antisocial behavior. In the past, these were called “personality traits,” but now they’re diseases.
. . .
A Washington Post article observed that, if Mozart were born today, he would be diagnosed with ADD and “medicated into barren normality.”
According to the DSM-IV, the diagnosis guidelines for identifying oppositional defiant disorder are for children, but adults can just as easily suffer from the disease. This should give any freethinking American reason for worry.
The Soviet Union used new “mental illnesses” for political repression. People who didn’t accept the beliefs of the Communist Party developed a new type of schizophrenia. They suffered from the delusion of believing communism was wrong. They were isolated, forcefully medicated, and put through repressive “therapy” to bring them back to sanity.
The article asks a simple question, ARE WE GETTING SICKER and I have to wonder if that is in fact what is happening or are we just so worried about labeling people that we've become idiots?