------------------
Is Free Thinking A Mental Illness?
Is nonconformity and freethinking a mental illness? According to the newest edition of the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), it certainly is. The manual identifies a new mental illness called “oppositional defiant disorder” or ODD. Defined as an “ongoing pattern of disobedient, hostile and defiant behavior,” symptoms include questioning authority, negativity, defiance, argumentativeness, and being easily annoyed.
The DSM-IV is the manual used by psychiatrists to diagnose mental illnesses and, with each new edition, there are scores of new mental illnesses. Are we becoming sicker? Is it getting harder to be mentally healthy? Authors of the DSM-IV say that it’s because they’re better able to identify these illnesses today. Critics charge that it’s because they have too much time on their hands.
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.
And there are treatments available.
All of this is a symptom of our over-diagnosing and overmedicating culture. In the last 50 years, the DSM-IV has gone from 130 to 357 mental illnesses. A majority of these illnesses afflict children. Although the manual is an important diagnostic tool for the psychiatric industry, it has also been responsible for social changes. The rise in ADD, bipolar disorder, and depression in children has been largely because of the manual’s identifying certain behaviors as symptoms. 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.
When the last edition of the DSM-IV was published, identifying the symptoms of various mental illnesses in children, there was a jump in the diagnosis and medication of children. Some states have laws that allow protective agencies to forcibly medicate, and even make it a punishable crime to withhold medication. This paints a chilling picture for those of us who are nonconformists.
Although the authors of the manual claim no ulterior motives but simply better diagnostic practices, the labeling of freethinking and nonconformity as mental illnesses has a lot of potential for abuse. It can easily become a weapon in the arsenal of a repressive state.
I absolutely do not believe that original thinking is a mental disorder. Original thinking and being unique is the very factor that keeps us alive. This idea even transfers over into other major concepts such as evolution. One of the major and essential components of evolution is variation. Without variation the human race or any other living organism cannot exist. The idea that defiant behavior is being seen as a disorder is terrifying. If individuals are not able to speak their mind and express how they feel, whether it’s in agreement or not, is quite scary and completely unethical. New ideas and perspectives are necessary for new inventions and new ways of life. Sometimes, I feel as if people forget that human beings are all different. Some may be similar, but no two individuals will ever be exactly alike. Because of this, we need to understand that there will always be people who don’t agree or believe in certain ideas. Free thinking goes hand in hand with creativity. Creativity in any shape or form has been scientifically proven to help the brain make the learning process tremendously easier. To not exercise this is doing individuals a complete injustice. Free thinking and creativity itself is a talent that not everyone possesses. It should be cherished and nurtured in the right direction and at a young age. When we encourage these people to express themselves we may find that they will figure out solutions or new and better ways of life. If we try to confine them to one way of thinking we will eventually drive them mad and lead them to rebel. This can sometimes be in dangerous ways.
ReplyDeleteI feel anything in excess is negative. If we never question anything, then we are bound to be taken advantage of. If no one ever questioned Hitler, than who knows how much farther he would have gotten with his genocide. That's a scary thought. On the flip side, if you question everything and have absolutely no trust, that can work against you as well. You are constantly swimming against the stream, if you just follow the crowd things can go much more smoothly, and you can avoid unnecessary stress. I believe there is a healthy balance, and I feel like that's what we have brains for. We can discern the difference, and we know when we need to take a stand, or when we can simply follow the crowd for our own survival. However, if we are going to validate that extreme defiance is a mental disorder, then we should also conclude that extreme obedience is a mental disorder as well, and in my opinion a much more severe one that takes away your humanity. If you never think for yourself, then you are like a robot that can't think for yourself. In all cases, everything in life that I sit down and really try to contemplate and understand, I come up with the same conclusion. Balance is in everything. If we strive for balance then we are able to objectively see both sides and make truly educated and beneficial decisions both on a personal level and as a group.
ReplyDeleteThe article is definitely disturbing... Like another student wrote, I believe in doing things in moderation. As humans we want categories for everything! It’s getting so crazy! While I do agree with being culturally sensitive and politically correct, there comes a point where enough is enough. I feel as though we are now trying to make up for our ignorance when it comes to mental health. It really does concern me because what is ‘free thinking’? This kind of reminds me of how PD define ‘gangs’ which is essentially however they want to, literally anyone can be a gang member, as long as they hang out with a group of people. When it seems we should be more concerned about those with more...anti-social behaviors, but that is not the point. Who is someone who free thinks? Is it someone who deviates from specific cultural norms? Religious or regional norms? It is someone who is to conservative or liberal? In American this is a problem due to our culture. We are brought up to be free thinkers, and I know many people who have deviated from their family, culture and religious norms and created their own path. Free thinking is not even a concrete thought in itself, we are not robots and no two humans in the world think the exact same thing at the same times. Our differences are what makes us so wonderful, and that is why the US is so amazing. Everyone is a free thinker in their own way, and I guess if you want to say we all have some kind of mental illness, which may or may not be true on some level, it seems to me that this is a way for people to quiet those who think to far outside the box and make those in power uncomfortable.
ReplyDelete