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Genevieve Tran

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Are various forms of mental "illness" really X-men superpowers....?

...that society as it is doesn't know how to harness? I've read that top crime scene investigators all have been diagnosed with ADHD at some point in their lives, but clearly having multi-foci is helpful to them on the job now.

Ever since, I've looked at stigmatized mental conditions with hope that they are actually useful. My own bouts of depression and insomnia spur great waves of creativity. I find schizophrenic friends unusually empathic. What is your experience?

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    anthony bruni 30+

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    Jun 8 2011: Have you check out the Icarus Project. Its a web site devoted to the exploration of what falls under the label of mental illness. One of the problems with the way mental health is dealt with is that it is defined by outside sources. I don't thinks its a superpower, vs illness, so much as finding a way to incorporate more mental diversity into the world.

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    Colleen Steen 500+

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    Jun 3 2011: Great question Genevieve!
    After a near fatal head injury and craniotomy 21 years ago, my family and I were told I would never function "normally" again. When I was well enough, I explored what that might mean to me for the rest of my life. I studied psychology, philosophy, various religious teachings and ancient healing practices.

    My conclusion, was/is that we all experience some mental differences on some level at certain times in our lives. Many of us have ADHD at times, and we know that many of our great composers, artists, leaders, etc., may be ADHD. We all feel sad at times...when is it depression, and when is it simply a time to feel those emotions in an effort to learn more about ourselves? We probably all experience insomnia, paranoia, schizophrenia, obsessive/compulsive at various times on some level. When does it become our label, and identity?

    I co-facilitated cognitive self change sessions in a correctional facility, and often the offenders said..."I'm ADHD...what do you expect". They were labeled as kids, it became their identity, and the reason for their behavior, in their perception. Another thing I noticed while there, was that many of the offenders recieved calming drugs regularly. Many of them were in there BECAUSE of drug addictions, and the system was reinforcing the need for drugs!

    After my injury, I was automatically put on anti -seizure drugs and pain meds, which caused me to feel like a zombie with no energy at all. I don't like drugs, so I diligently addressed the issue, and within a short time stopped taking them. There was a risk, but to me, living in a drugged state every day of my life was not appealing. The advances we've made with medications are amazing, and way overused, in my perception. We have become dependant on meds, and if we find a label for a certain condition, there is a medication that will supposedely "fix" it. Many times, what we are experiencing is an opportunity to learn more about ourselves and others.
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      Genevieve Tran 50+

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      Jun 5 2011: Good to know that you've made a conscious decision not to be drugged. I think just you delving into studying about your condition after your injury shows an interesting power of your mind to assert itself in its new position.
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        Colleen Steen 500+

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        Jun 5 2011: Genevieve,
        I like the way you call the condition "a new position":>) That's how I see it as well...an opportunity.
        I agree with your idea that some conditions labeled "disorders" may actually be useful to us, if we delve into it a little more, rather than trying to make eveyone fit into a box that is called "normal". I am not totally against drugs, because they serve a useful purpose. I am all for delving, exploring and having as much information as possible to make the choices. Some people give up their quest for knowledge and information, which is power:>)
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      anthony bruni 30+

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      Jun 9 2011: Glad you were able to explore yourself a bit and did not fall into the trap of being defined. I have done some work in the mental health field and I believe most people diagnosing people are truly unaware of the power a label can have. People once defined can cling to their identity, especially if they have been alienated throughout their lives as often they have been.
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    Ken brown 30+

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    May 30 2011: You know what, i think you have a point.i used to work in a pysche forensic unit long time ago and the patients before their morning cocktails would be quite lively,now some i got to know well if they were just about to spiral their energy was up making them restless now if that energy could have been channelled elsewhere it could've avoided a few interventions,icu to calm down then back to aimless wandering,some were delicate creatures.
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    Andrew Buchmann

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    May 26 2011: Well you said it yourself..."illness."
    Although, I wouldn't go as far as saying X-men. Scary to think what an non-medicated a paranoid schizophrenic might do with laser vision.......
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    Ken brown 30+

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    May 25 2011: People need to know whom they talk to to have some experience of what they've been through or constantly go through,an exchange of verbal,body language,pheromones and something else.

    i wonder what the perfect human looks like?
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    Matthew Purinton

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    May 25 2011: Yes. I have found that my disability allows me capabilities that my abled comrades can't equal. Many of my clients come to me because they know that I know a little something about dealing with obstacles. Matt
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      Colleen Steen 500+

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      Jun 5 2011: Matt,
      What are the bigger "obstacles"? Those caused by your disability? Or those caused by non-acceptance, or maybe lack of understanding?
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    Salim Solaiman 50+

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    May 24 2011: Everywhere went I found lot of stigma around psychiatric & neurological condtions. Don't know why in this era of knowledge technolgy when information is plenty available !!!

    Nobody is stigmatized if s/he is myopic rather make glasses or contact lenses as fashion accessories but with hearing disorder a bit stigma still there. Having hypertension , high cholesterol , diabetes to some extent a kind of discussion point like weather.

    But with psychiatric or neurological condition society still seems at pre Hypocretes era taking those condition as a kind of CURSE from somewhere though there were & are lot of great innovative people who contributed human civilization greatly had those e.g. Van Gogh,Jhon Nash, Albert Einstein, Lenin, Socretes , Plato and so on......

    We need really a big paradigm shift in society regarding this as it is also hampering the treatment process. Hope will see soon that shift.
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      Genevieve Tran 50+

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      May 25 2011: I think it's stigmatized because it's so out of our control. We are scared of it. And I even think that fright is a poor lens through which we develop medication. It's always to subdue and numb the person; never to enhance it or hone in any way....

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      Genevieve Tran 50+

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      May 25 2011: yeah, we are finally learning that labelling is rather primitive...it is a reduction of a person to a convenient word to describe what we are too lazy / scared / unable / incompetent to deal with. In this selfishness, we cripple some individuals with low self-esteem. And that is the only real malignancy that comes from "mental illness".

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          Genevieve Tran 50+

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          May 26 2011: It would be interesting to do research where we actually enable and encourage those who have been diagnosed with mental illnesses (instead of predict doom and gloom) i.e. self-fulfilling prophecies...

          Or research better diagnostic methods (in case the current ones are wrong!) Maybe people are even mis-diagnosed because certain, very different, but very proximate in symptoms, conditions haven't been discovered yet. Or research the effects of new drugs that do something other than subdue!
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