Mental illness, attention deficit disorder, and suffering, from Mark Dominus:
I understand that for some people it really is a disorder, that they have no desire to justify or celebrate or honor their attention deficit. For those people the term “attention deficit disorder” might be a good one. Not for me. I have a weird thing in my brain that makes it work differently from the way most other people’s brains do. In many ways it works less well. I lose hats and forget doctor appointments. But that is not a mental illness. Most people aren’t as good at math as I am; that’s not a mental illness either. People have different brains.
(Via Leah Neukirchen)
Comments
good insight, and so true.
“Disorder” is a loaded term, and there are more than these two ways to look at neurodiversity. I don’t want to gainsay the main point of the post, that you aren’t faulty just because it’s hard for you to do certain kinds of things that most people find easy. But in this world where our lifestyle depends on economies of scale and on mass produced tech and mass communication, belonging to some extraordinary 5% of potential users who are unable to take advantage of a thing is sure to cost you (the alternatives are liable to cost more), if not to cause you serious problems. You can appreciate you’re at a practical disadvantage without regarding yourself as faulty.
Or maybe there are only two ways after all, and I’ve kind of said nothing different while missing the main point. I think I had something different in mind to say when I got started. Oh well. Brains.