*The Medicalization of Society*

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“This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Tahitiii & Cosmiccat " Tape disintegrates in a cloud of smoke.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH5-HzKTW_Q&feature=related[/youtube]


Alba, now that you've deleted that very funny post giving me and Tahitiii our mission, my post seems out of context and makes no sense, or at least, makes less sense than it would if your post had remained above and preceding it.

Last edited by cosmiccat on 28 Mar 2009, 6:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

BRIEF HISTORY OF ASPERGER SYNDROME


1943...........Austrian Leo Kanner [1894-1981] researches and describes classic autism. Has theory about refrigerator mothers.

1944...........Austrian Hans Asperger authors paper "Autistic Psychopathy".

[note: It isn't clear how HFA and Aspergers differ and why there are 2 terms for high functioning autism. Lorna Wing apparently objected to Hans Asperger using the word "psychopathy" in reference to those with a form of high functioning autism. It is due to her efforts that all autistics have been grouped together on a spectrum.]


1981...........Lorna Wing is credited with widely popularizing the term Asperger Syndrome....Wing also placed AS on the autism spectrum, although Asperger was uncomfortable characterizing his patients on the continuum of autistic spectrum disorders. Lorna Wing is credited with coining the term autism spectrum disorder....

[and something is fishy here.. If Lorna Wing fought against Hans Asperger's pathologizing of Aspies, then why did she put Aspies at the top of a spectrum of disorders? At any rate the pathologizing of AS began with Hans Asperger in 1944, was briefly aborted by the efforts of Lorna Wing, and then re-established sometime after 1981.]

1992...........AS becomes a distinct diagnosis.

1997...........Australian disability activist Judy Singer coins the term neurodiversity



http://glassjail.wordpress.com/2008/04/ ... r-syndrome

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Alba, Good theme song for our little group.
Good thing Cosmiccat saved it or I'd have missed it.

This link has a good comic strip from Opus.
http://www.unique-design.net/library/drugs.html
You need to scroll way down through the ranting...

Two points;

One; The environment, and by this I mean not only the social structures which affect us both physically and mentally, ( school, workplaces, "leisure" facilities, the organisation of "time", roles/performances required/demanded by society, like gender, etc etc ), but also the more purely physical/sensory environment, ( noise, vibrations, lighting, electrical installations, chemicals, incl. car fumes, food/diet, cleaning agents, plastics, pesticides/fertilisers, etc), determines to a huge extent how able/capable of functioning a person is. This applies to everyone.

For the last 100 years the environment has been increasingly hostile to sensitive people, many of them on the so-called autistic spectrum. This could be changed. The modern environment is not, ( except in the widest sense of the term ), an act of god. Society can, and does, determine the kind of environment most people have to live in. In this sense society is directly responsible for the disabling of many people. Many of us are suffering from chronic overload, which could be reduced.

Social structures have also become increasingly hostile to those with specifically Autism Spectrum characteristics, by abandoning old "prosthetic" devices which used to guide/support social relations, by introducing increasingly rigid notions of "efficiency" particularly with respect to time, deadlines, etc, ( standards which however are not applied to everyone, and which I would also suggest often fall into the "more haste less speed" category of pressures ), among other things.

Second point; A "minimum wage" assumes that everyone will, or should, work, and yet it is becoming increasingly obvious that infinite "growth", even "steady" growth, is not sustainable or desirable, that encouraging people to earn so that they can consume is a mistake. Most jobs are "make-work", produce nothing real, and simply serve to consume more precious resources. We don't need people to work more; we need people to work less, and at quieter, slower activities, like growing good food, raising animals less intensively, crafting, etc.

The idea that people have to work at something which makes a "profit", consume far more than is necessary, and participate in constant social activity, in order to be a "good"/worthwhile citizen, in order to qualify for a "minimum wage", is coming under increasing scrutiny. If most people stopped working tomorrow, and sat in front of their TVs all day, we would still have more than enough food to eat, clothes to wear, and electricity to light and heat our homes, etc.

Sitting in the corner of a room all day, or on the front step, or in a wood, watching insects or tree branches, or bicycle wheels turning, or whatever, does not pollute, consumes almost nothing, and can be highly creative; the kind of people happy to do this may very soon be highly appreciated/valued members of society.

Time taken to compose this reply: ( after subtracting 30 minutes waiting for page changes ) 1 and a half hours.

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Since this is about medicalization, is anyone here on meds or in some sort of treatment? I haven't been for years. Surely there's no harm done in diagnosing a "disorder" unless we're forced into treatment.
P.S. It also helps us find others like us.
EDIT: I mean medical treatment of whatever sort.

Last edited by protest_the_hero on 29 Mar 2009, 2:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I propose a name for the project: "A canary in a coal mine." The rest or your post deserves comment, explanation, exploration... there's so much here. "The Medicalization" would only be a chapter or subtopic. "Many of them" may be "on the so-called autistic spectrum," and many are not. Everyone is being hurt by all of this nonsense.

Define "treatment." That reminds me of when my kid were little and we jokingly referred to tickling as "the treatment." Which was inspired by a playground practice when my husband was a kid, which was not so funny, of punishing those who broke the "code of the schoolyard" by "tattling" or otherwise defending themselves. Society must punish and, more often than not, it has nothing to do with one's own behavior. Sure. I get "the treatment" all the time. Just for being weak and/or gentle and/or an easy target.

Does Post Traumatic Stress count? Chemicals in the public water supply, placed there deliberately and accidentally? Brainwashing from the media? One person's medicine is often another person's poison.

As Peter Conrad says in his book, ( and which I quoted from in my opening post ), labelling certain behaviours/characteristics as disorders reduces the range of behaviours that are "acceptable" in society, justifies society in ignoring the needs of those people, ( except with drugs, therapies, and other individual treatments/solutions ), and encourages people in general to see that way of being, your way of being, as dysfunctional, as unhealthy, weaker than, or inferior to, theirs.

The majority of people do not have aspects of their behaviour labelled officially as dysfunctional or disordered. Most young people go through a phase of thinking that there are all sorts of things wrong with them, ( weight, height, shape of nose, spotty skin, etc ), but an increasing number now also have to deal with an official label of dysfunction.

This might possibly be almost a relief for some, because it can suggest that there is a scientifically-proven reason for their difficulties, something which they are not responsible for. And they may rely on it all their lives, to explain failure. The danger is that not only does the medical label let society off the hook to a large extent, but that it may encourage a person to believe that they are incapable of x, y, z, because of this dysfunction they supposedly suffer from.

We may be different, but I do not believe that we are any more "impaired" than most other humans.

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I agree. The label homosexuality, for instance, served not only to exclude/stigmatise the people most clearly and definitely homosexual, it also served to frighten/police the rest of the male population into obeying gender-rules more closely, denying any such desires of their own, and so long as homosexuality remained taboo also acted to suppress/control questioning about sexuality in general.

So the label of Autism frightens parents into putting pressure, however well-meant, on their children to perform in a clearly and "reassuringly, "non-autistic" way, which marginalises "us" even more, and which pressure may in turn produce a whole new "syndrome"/range of syndromes in those on the boundaries of the current classification system. Parents are frightened. Would-be parents are frightened.

It's a modern verson of the bogeyman to make children "behave", the way society wants them to. Medicalization does not just touch the ones who are diagnosed, but the whole of society.

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Last edited by ouinon on 29 Mar 2009, 11:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

Quoting Ouinon:

There was a time when education, specifically public school education, seemed to be on the right track. The curriculum was based on a premise that realized, sanctioned and accommodated “differences” in people, families, students. We all knew without being told (diagnosed) that everyone was different and for the most part that was okay. There was not so much pressure and competition, shaping and molding, to become ‘like everyone else”. Some would go on to college, other’s would learn a trade, keep the family farm or business going, become a seamstress or a barber or a truck driver or a candy maker, and it was all needed, all okay. Now, a kid hasn’t even completed kindergarten before the system diagnosing him/her and “weeding him out” in order to “prepare” him/her for the “future” which has become a synonym for “higher” education and requires that the child consistently produce something called an “A” in every subject and/ or be a “star” athlete to compete for scholarships into the best colleges. That’s a lot of crap for a kid to carry around on her/his shoulders for twelve years. No wonder so many, when they finally arrive on the university doorstep, are already on their way to alcohol or drug addiction. While this scenario may seem an over generalization, it does happen all too often, and is only one of the many negative results that have their roots in early education and grooming for the future. The arts, crafts and trades of a more wholesome society have been pulled out of the public schools, gradually, stealthily, under the guise of “no funding” and “keeping up with the “Joneses”. The Joneses, of course, being other nations and societies that are far ahead of us and alarmingly close to the finish line of world domination or eradication. It’s all a big race and God help you if you’ve got a bum leg. Sit on the bleachers and cheer then, show proof of your support and your involvement while consuming mass quantities like a cone-head. It’s the least you can do in return for all that’s been “given” to you.


This, the above, is the kind of preventive medicine we all need. Instead the preventive medicine industry is brain washing us and using scare tactics to keep us going to the drug store. There is now a pill to prevent just about anything, and often, while warding off one menace, bring on a host of others, if not death itself. No thank you. I’ll deal with my “osteoporosis” like my grandma did. How many people are working primarily for health benefits. Health benefits? Is that funny or what? I’m not putting down science and medicine. I have a reverence for and awe of all that has been accomplished to save and enhance our lives, especially in the elimination of childhood diseases that were once rampant and if they did not kill the child initially, were responsible for creating a life time of pain and suffering. Polio is one of the nastiest that comes to mind.


Protest the Hero: To answer your question. I don’t take any medication except in emergency situations on an as needed basis. But that’s me. I have a fear of side effects. I would rather tough things out, like panic attacks. And besides, I have a tendency, because of my prolific imagination, to be a hypochondriac. My doctor knows that and works with me. If the need arises, and I do need medicine, I prefer to use something that has been around for decades and has been proven to be save and still able to do the job and return me to a wellness state. Also, I have been "in treatment" for a little over a year. By that I mean, I see a shrink, whom I respect and admire (does not push meds) and who acts as my spirit guide on a search and recovery mission. I'm MIA.

The following is an excerpt from the appendix of Mission Control Handbook for Agent Trainees; a fictional odyssey and compendium of essays, unpublished....

I do not believe in freewill. From my way of thinking, mental and spiritual awakening is synonymous with 4 things: 1)Knowing freewill is an illusion.....2)Knowing everything but the present moment is an illusion.....3)Knowing space/time is an illusion.....4)Knowing that pain/pleasure is only relevant to the body and you are not the body. Everything is determined and everything is inseparably connected.

It will be increasingly to the benefit of the status quo to emphasize a proper exercising of choice. And the establishment will determine precisely which choices shall be construed as healthy and sane....i.e., normal and acceptable. Choices not within the appropriate tolerances will be labeled criminal and/or pathological. The same goes for people assessed as unable to control their behavior. Such individuals are in danger of being temporarily deleted via chemical straight-jackets, incarcerated, or terminated.

The following may not apply now because there are so many. But, in general, homeless people learn the necessity of keeping a low profile. It is not common knowledge, but the homeless at least in the States, are generally not allowed the use of public recreational facilities for camping in. Recreational facilities are for recreation--not for surviving. You aren't legally allowed to survive in recreational facilities, not even for the allotted time period. Of course when you keep a low profile and don't tell authorities you are homeless, they are often none the wiser. A homeless person learns how to avoid drawing attention to themselves. They, in effect, must learn the under-rated art of appearing invisible. It is a survival technique.

Frank Herbert--in his popular 20th century sci-fi classic Dune describes an interesting tactic. The sandworms were dangerous creatures on the 'planet with no water'. When people walked in the sand, it was essential for their survival to walk with an irregular gait and rhythm. The even rhythms of a consistent regular gait would be easily detected by the sandworms...who could then predict their speed and direction, and accurately pinpoint their location. Thus their lives were in constant jeopardy. So they learned to walk with no regularity or rhythm.... but rather with uneven intervals between steps, and ziq-zagging patterns. Thus their speed and direction were difficult or impossible to compute, and even their presence was undetectable due to blending in so well with random natural phenomena. In essence, they were moving along as though invisible with respect to their predators.

Try walking like that sometime. It is extroardinarily difficult. It forces you to remain present until you get the hang of it. Even when you get used to the irregular rhythm, it tends to force consciousness to remain with the motion of walking. It's a kind of meditation. But it's a lot more than that.

A predicatable person is a person in danger of being detected. A moving target is hard to hit. A moving target moving in an unpredictable pattern is even harder to hit. Also there is such a thing as a psychological cloak of invisibility. The key to being invisible is easier than one might think. In order to be seen, the seer's attention has to be at least partially devoted to that seeing. When people have their attention so riveted on a distraction or preoccupation, that they are unable to focus upon anything except that immediate preoccupation--they are oblivious to much of what is going on around them. They easily miss or are unconcerned with movements of people and objects if they happen to blend in with their surroundings. All agent trainees learn the art of psychological invisibility prior to being outfitted with invisibility gear. When de-cloaking, it is imperative to do so under favorable conditions. Thus a knowledge of psychological invisibility is essential. It is also essential for agent trainees to avoid attention fixation when on-duty. What you do with your attention off-duty is your business.

Blending in with one's surroundings is frequently necessary and essential when under attack. It requires noticing how people use their attention, when they are preoccupied, and timing your movements to coincide. Avoid erratic, jerky, fast, and regular patterns of movement---all of which tend to attract attention. Get in the habit of wearing neutral and muted colored clothing. Emotionally remain flat and detached.

Maintaining a good diet, remaining undetected or invisible, and learning to be unpredictable--are antidotes for dangerous drugs, mind control, traumatic conditioning, and divisive labels.

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The above is mind-blowingly brilliant. Should be printed out and hung on walls and trees world-wide. To respond any further would be like an elephant trying to do a pirouette on a tight rope wearing doc martins.

Those who can listen to BBC Radio 4 may find this programme interesting. It's to be broadcast at 9pm on Monday 30th March. I heard it advertised this afternoon and thought of this thread!


The Medicalisation of Normality

Health journalist John Naish asks if we are turning normal human behaviour and normal stages in human development into medical conditions.

Not really.

The public school was created around a century ago to prepare the masses for the industrial age. The social engineers used a factory model and a blank-slate mentality, believing that everyone was born the same and could be processed, assembly-line style. The products of this process would be interchangeable, standardized parts that could fit in any where and function in any machine.

The “overt” curriculum was reading and math. The “covert” curriculum was about punctuality and blind obedience, among other things. (Cyclical, agrarian time doesn’t get along with linear, industrial time. The cows don’t care if you’re five minute late.) It was also about taking the kiddies away from out-dated family values and foreign languages and creating a homogenous, mass culture.

Those who didn’t have an obvious defect (mental retardation or physical disability) were lazy or immoral or trouble makers or whatever. Either you survived the melting pot, or you didn’t.

It was a smelting pot, where the defective ones were plucked out and simply discarded for a while (denied an education). Later they were dumped in special classes to ease the guilt. Pipe dreams in special education about inclusion and accommodation are fairly new, and are still unpopular. I actually heard an Ed Psych professor in college (early 1980’s) ranting to the class that the whole point of special ed was to get rid of the defective ones, and complaining that now they want to bring them back. Most teachers considered it lunacy.

In other words, there was never a golden age. The world has always been awful. Just different brands of awful. Just thought I’d mention.

Whoa. I think I blew a fuse on that one. I wonder if that's related to my being a mirror. Maybe I'm unconsciously doing the worst parts, and badly. Must save and digest later. Like a critter who's just found something really good, ya gotta find some quiet place and gnaw on it for a while.

Edit: Wait a minute -- unpublished by whom? Er -- I mean, written by whom?
Or maybe keep it to ourselves. Why share stealth technology with a potential enemy? (And who but an Aspie could make it to page three of a thread like this, in a place like this? I say, hide it in plain sight. Like a ninja.

Check this out:

www.wrongplanet.net/postp2021941.html#2021941

----where are those ninjas when you need them----


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