A very strange thing is happening in the psychological patient population. There is a movement that states that a diagnosis accounts for a large part of a patient’s problems. It’s the cultural view and the judgement about that diagnosis that is the cause of problems in living. This is very similar to saying that culture shapes gender differences and without that shaping there would be little difference.
Yes, a diagnosis can seem pejorative especially when it is discussed without compassion. With many fragile patients I never reveal their diagnosis because their self criticism gets triggered, and is not helpful, to say the least. But to say the majority of the problem is caused by that diagnosis and we should stop diagnosing is absurd. Mental pain causes the problem and without effective psychotherapy – and I do not mean cognitive therapy – it will not go away.
Neurological Diversity
In business now we must accept neurological diversity which is the new euphemism for mental illness. The person does not have a problem – they are just diverse. Change the label and change how problematic some diagnoses will be to the workplace. Try accepting a person with borderline personality disorder into your business and see what happens. We accepted a recent president with that diagnosis and he proceeded to tear the whole country apart, causing unprecedented divisiveness to the point of an attempted coup.
Recently and in the not too distant past two politicians with openly revealed diagnoses were almost elected. Herschel Walker who has Multiple Personality Disorder (an old category that distinguished it from a milder Dissociative Disorder) and Roy Moore from Alabama who is a pedophile, molesting several pre-teenage girls.
This was so perfectly fine with the electorate that both men lost by appallingly thin margins. Alarmingly, both men appealed to fundamentalist Christians who are convinced in the case of Roy Moore that Jesus had forgiven him and so should we, according to one account I read, and in the case of Walker that, as he says so himself, Jesus had cured him and he no longer needs any therapy.
You might say we all have problems, or every politician has his own diagnosis. Why be picky or judgmental? Maybe clinicians need to educate the public as to what electing Moore or Walker or the former president might mean as far as governing the country. These three are serious diagnoses and would interfere with their abilities to govern.
In the case of Roy Moore, pedophiles are notoriously arrogant and prone to entitlement. By and large most pedophiles think there is nothing wrong with molesting kids and most shun therapy for it. This entitled attitude interferes with their integrity. Decisions are made strictly upon what would benefit them the most. In other words, caring about the people and the electorate is last on their minds. Feeding the puffed up ego comes first.
In the case of Walker, you might think you’re voting for the cause he temporarily aligns himself with to get elected. The cause might be so important that you will forgive the diagnosis in evaluating whether or not to vote for him, but the very diagnosis may interfere with his ability to stick to any cause. Here’s how:
- On Tuesday he is aligned with his warrior self, the man who played ball with such courage and strength, capable of standing up to anything; THAT’S who we are hungry to elect.
- On Thursday he is aligned with his childlike self who can be manipulated at the whim of anybody who loves that kid; in other words, on Thursday there is no integrity or commitment.
- Worse, there is an alternate self on Friday who is violent. How disturbing would his angry irrational outbursts be during senate meetings? How much time would be taken up handling him?
We have all experienced these angry outbursts with a certain president who has an even worse and more dangerous diagnosis. Of him it was said that his mind changed according to who was in front of him.
Once these people are in, there is no self correcting mechanism inside to get them to examine any harmful behavior. None of them would ever get therapy. As mentioned above, Herschel himself said he no longer needs it because Jesus cured him.
The sane part of the electorate thinks these people are like them – self correcting, concerned about integrity, caring about any harm they might do to others. But they are not. None of them.
In summary, are we glossing over serious diagnoses in politicians because of the push to accept “neurodiversity” in everyone? Perhaps it’s good for the workplace and it generates compassion and acceptance, but we are talking about governing the country. Do we gloss over it because of religious beliefs that Jesus can cure serious disorders? Does it come from ignorance about these disorders? For example, integrity comes from having a firm healthy inner core that steers us in life. Many mental illnesses interfere with that. Few people know about that.
Are we glossing over the seriousness of these disorders because the (pathological) arrogance of these men appeal to us? Rightfully we yearn for strong leaders who will stand up to what is going on but arrogance is not the yardstick for that.
I maintain that we are judging these books by their covers. What is inside is nothing like what we think is inside. What is inside is dangerous for the well being of our country. What is inside is not integrity.