The Forums › Forums › What is it? › Other › Faking ADHD – Time Magazine › Re: Faking ADHD – Time Magazine
I’ve posted this in other forums on this site, but my first effort to work with my ADD was met with an unwillingness on the psychiatrist’s part to diagnose. I wasn’t looking for drugs, but maybe some help in working through the disorder. There have been and always will be people, even learned people who are distrustful of mental disabilities and disorders. One of the videos on this site points it out. Dr. J saying something to the effect that people aren’t willing to deal with the fact that the brain can be hurt.
There also is an element of society that believes if someone has a mental disorder, it is because they lack the willpower to improve themselves. Go to your bookstore and look in the “self-help/improvement” section and you will see many books on how to will your depression, ADD, or other disorder away. This just goes to show that those of us who do suffer from mental disorders are seen as lazy, ignorant, idiots, who just need to suck it up.
I’ve seen this with other issues. Sexual abuse victims were subject to being called liars at one point, right when people were just feeling safe enough to come forward with their stories. This just goes to show that when people are uncomfortable with whatever is “wrong” with you, they would rather just disbelieve you or flat out blame you. It’s also why subjects such as domestic abuse remains hidden by family members. It’s why mentally ill people were locked up in institutions for hundreds of years, or hidden in back of the house, instead of being dealt with, and truly helped. We still see this in the poorer part of the US. I myself have two close family members that have severe disabilities, that are not addressed, just denied by their parents. People would rather not face the problem, then to do the work necessary to deal with an issue. What they don’t realize is that doing the work is much easier.
All this said. Time Magazine is not for the intelligent of our society. It’s a magazine that is what I call “fluff news.” It’s not in-depth, well researched reporting, and it doesn’t surprise me they would publish something like this. What gets me is that they produce something called “Time for Kids” and peddle it to the schools. Now my kids are forced to read the juvenile version (because I guess they think they are publishing an adult version of this in the first place) of this rag.
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