Posted by bookgurl99 on May 26, 2003, at 21:50:58
In reply to This American Life (NPR)-developmental disorders, posted by Eddie Sylvano on May 19, 2003, at 10:56:21
> One of the subjects was a 7 year old boy who suffers from a genetic defect, leaving him with a faulty heart, deformed brain, and rapid cycling bipolar disorder.
I'm really glad that this kid Sam found help. What I'm not glad about, though, is that his mother -- who lives in my area -- is a total news hound who has had several articles done on her boy. His picture was on the front page of a local weekly paper here. I think it's unkind to publicly label your kid with a mental illness; he may not want it to be so known when he's out there applying for his first job in 9 years.
From what I've read here, I think that the mom likes to do media in order to assuage her own guilt for Sam's misbehavior She wants all the info to be out there so people that saw him as a terror when he was young will know that it was really not her fault. Part of me thinks that she feels that it really IS her fault.
> The segement after this was about a 37 year old retarded man who had been doing relatively well until a couple of years ago, when he suddenly withdrew from everyone (quit his job, stopped activities, didn't talk much). Still, when this sudden change happened, everyone was mystified as to why. "What made him do this? What was he thinking?" was the question brought up throughout the segment. "We've asked him dozens of times."Actually, did you hear that Vincent was put on Prozac? It still didn't kick him out of the dumps, though I'd call that the result of SSRI apathy.
I think he was bored after doing the same things for 12 years. Who wouldn't?
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It's true, though, that oftentimes our beliefs about our capacities to choose are exagerrated. Even a few days on Straterra, and I felt quite motivated. And, when I was hypothyroid, I had horrid ocd symptoms that were not cured by 'therapy' but by proper treatment and meds.It makes me think that people who do _not_ experience any mental illness need to get off their high horses sometimes. For example, I have one friend who regularly puts down another guy with social phobia. The social phobia guy, normally a smart science lab type, is dopey and slow on Paxil. And he _still_ drinks when he tries to go out and meet dates. The other guy is constantly putting down his inability to 'face it.' I figure he's just on the wrong meds. Sometimes I wish the judgemental one would get a taste of mental illness just to see what it's like.
*sigh* I'm still crabby about that mom draggin' her kid all over the media. I gotta go to bed.
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