Joseph Meyer on Nostr: My wife and I have been caregivers for our daughter for more than twenty years now. ...
My wife and I have been caregivers for our daughter for more than twenty years now. We are getting old. We do not know what will happen to her when we are gone. We are trying to make plans. The similarities of her symptoms to those of my late father with Alzheimer’s disease are similar, but society’s responses to those symptoms are strikingly different. I think part of the blame for that difference falls squarely on the influence of disability rights activists. I such activists are well-intentioned, but I think their response to the excesses of mental institutions in the past has gone too far.
I recently saw an article shared on the Fediverse in opposition to a proposal in The Lancet to create a label called “profound autism.” The opposition to that label is well-intentioned: To promote a focus on a desire for society to accommodate persons on the autism spectrum regardless of their symptoms. But, I think that is an unrealistic goal for now. I think it is important to remember that health conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes occur on a spectrum where they are considered maladaptive at extremes on the range. And I think the same is true for illnesses with behavioral symptoms such as serious mental illnesses. Our society’s response to serious behavioral symptoms today is too often incarceration, homelessness, or death. Many advocates do not want to acknowledge the more serious behavioral symptoms of profoundly ill persons and accept that they should be treated as medical problems.
The more severe symptoms of mental illness among those who are more seriously ill are stigmatizing (i.e., shameful) to those with less serious issues. Those with milder mental illnesses and symptoms do not wish to be associated with persons who have symptoms of serious mental illness—they do not want friends and acquaintances to think they are at risk of violence, homelessness, or imprisonment, which could be obstacles to interpersonal relationships and career advancement. Advocates have told me as much. They do not want associate with persons who have such severe symptoms. So they marginalize those with more serious symptoms. Bring up violence and they might repeat the oft-stated line that persons with mental illness are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators of it—and that’s true, except for the tiny marginalized minority who do happen to be violent. Some say violence by parents was the cause of their own illness, and maybe it was. But it is hard to know with certainty if hurtful behavior by parents causes mental illness in their children due to trauma, or is a sign of undiagnosed and untreated mental illness in the parents that is inherited by children. Maybe it is both. Maybe it varies by family. Maybe we do not know and should be less certain about such issues.
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I recently saw an article shared on the Fediverse in opposition to a proposal in The Lancet to create a label called “profound autism.” The opposition to that label is well-intentioned: To promote a focus on a desire for society to accommodate persons on the autism spectrum regardless of their symptoms. But, I think that is an unrealistic goal for now. I think it is important to remember that health conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes occur on a spectrum where they are considered maladaptive at extremes on the range. And I think the same is true for illnesses with behavioral symptoms such as serious mental illnesses. Our society’s response to serious behavioral symptoms today is too often incarceration, homelessness, or death. Many advocates do not want to acknowledge the more serious behavioral symptoms of profoundly ill persons and accept that they should be treated as medical problems.
The more severe symptoms of mental illness among those who are more seriously ill are stigmatizing (i.e., shameful) to those with less serious issues. Those with milder mental illnesses and symptoms do not wish to be associated with persons who have symptoms of serious mental illness—they do not want friends and acquaintances to think they are at risk of violence, homelessness, or imprisonment, which could be obstacles to interpersonal relationships and career advancement. Advocates have told me as much. They do not want associate with persons who have such severe symptoms. So they marginalize those with more serious symptoms. Bring up violence and they might repeat the oft-stated line that persons with mental illness are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators of it—and that’s true, except for the tiny marginalized minority who do happen to be violent. Some say violence by parents was the cause of their own illness, and maybe it was. But it is hard to know with certainty if hurtful behavior by parents causes mental illness in their children due to trauma, or is a sign of undiagnosed and untreated mental illness in the parents that is inherited by children. Maybe it is both. Maybe it varies by family. Maybe we do not know and should be less certain about such issues.
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