Is nonconformity and freethinking a mental illness? According to the newest addition 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.
IIRC, this Country was formed by those that fit into the “free thinking and nonconformity” category.
I cant help but wonder how many boxes of cracker jacks these “medical professionals” had to open before they found their degree.
The scary thing is how the current administration could use the description to label all members of the NRA, TEA Party or any other group they disagree with and take action against them, similar to how the IRS is treating TEA Party groups now.
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.
History is doomed to repeat itself, I’ve heard many a time-and how true it sometimes is.
Germany in the mid 1930’s imprisoned thousands of their own people-Germans-for having physical and mental disorders, mental disorders that included social disobedience and nonconformity to the Reich.
History always finds a way to repeat itself because the human race is flawed. We’ll always fight in the name of God, We’ll always have extreme greed & racism around the world is never going away.
As for the next Presidential election if we don’t have record turnouts no matter who wins, then that will show people just don’t care.
What if we get record turnouts, and the winning person has been labeled as “extremely greedy & racist”? Even though every penny earned came from hard work and there is absolutely no evidence of any racists comments or actions in the persons history.
