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> When should I try to change or “treat” my mental differences, and when should I embrace them as naturally occurring diversity? Imo, it's simple: the more neg

by jotm 5y ago

> When should I try to change or “treat” my mental differences, and when should I embrace them as naturally occurring diversity? Imo, it's simple: the more negatively it affects your life, the more you should try and fix it. It really depends on what you want in life, what you can be content with. It is really hard knowing you could do much more, and want to do much more, but your own brain is in the way. I mean, it's like having problems with any other part of your body. A limp is one thing, it can be managed. But would someone missing a leg or both not accept functional prostheses? The brain shouldn't be treated differently. The number of times I heard "you're so lazy"... while every day is a fucking massive struggle just to live a normal life. There isn't much point to such a life, to be honest, but dying is much harder than one would think. It's like shoving your hand into a fire - most people can't do it.

AnimalMuppet 5y ago
Please, don't take the "dying" route. You have much to offer, and your life can very much have a point.
barbs 5y ago
> Imo, it's simple: the more negatively it affects your life, the more you should try and fix it. I think you need to be careful with this advice, as I can imagine people reading this and trying to fix things that they can't, and then getting frustrated and/or depressed when they can't. I imagine there are lots of younger people with ADHD/Autism who would feel that their neurological condition prevents them from fitting in, and so would feel that their brain needs to be fixed, when really what needs to change is acceptance of these sorts of conditions. That's my understanding of the whole "embracing neurodiversity" movement.
- throwaway684936 5y ago
  > That's my understanding of the whole "embracing neurodiversity" movement. Your understanding is pretty much correct. An unmentioned danger here (in addition to self-fixing) is e.g. the autism industrial complex trying to convince the parents their child needs to be "fixed" early on through their absurdly expensive, completely ineffective and pseudoscientific, horribly mentally damaging "therapies." Certain kinds of "self-help" books targeted at neurodivergent people are the equivalent of that for teens/young adults who think they need to "fix" themselves.
- jotm 5y ago
  Try and fix it. Some things can't be fixed, but many can. And I'm talking by any means necessary. Of course, first and foremost, one must understand and accept the risks. I do suffer from ADHD (which has been getting more severe over the years), which leads to anxiety and depression (I call it the ADHD->anxiety->depression circle, vicious thing). It doesn't have to be accepted. It needs to be fucking fixed. I am in Europe, where it's "accepted" as laziness. So I can't get proper medication and recently started my own mini lab risking years in prison. I realized I am absolutely, undoubtedly fucked without medication, and that's the only solution I came up with, judge me lol. Chemistry is fun, though.

by jotm 5y ago

AnimalMuppet 5y ago

Please, don't take the "dying" route. You have much to offer, and your life can very much have a point.

barbs 5y ago

> Imo, it's simple: the more negatively it affects your life, the more you should try and fix it. I think you need to be careful with this advice, as I can imagine people reading this and trying to fix things that they can't, and then getting frustrated and/or depressed when they can't. I imagine there are lots of younger people with ADHD/Autism who would feel that their neurological condition prevents them from fitting in, and so would feel that their brain needs to be fixed, when really what needs to change is acceptance of these sorts of conditions. That's my understanding of the whole "embracing neurodiversity" movement.

throwaway684936 5y ago
> That's my understanding of the whole "embracing neurodiversity" movement. Your understanding is pretty much correct. An unmentioned danger here (in addition to self-fixing) is e.g. the autism industrial complex trying to convince the parents their child needs to be "fixed" early on through their absurdly expensive, completely ineffective and pseudoscientific, horribly mentally damaging "therapies." Certain kinds of "self-help" books targeted at neurodivergent people are the equivalent of that for teens/young adults who think they need to "fix" themselves.
jotm 5y ago
Try and fix it. Some things can't be fixed, but many can. And I'm talking by any means necessary. Of course, first and foremost, one must understand and accept the risks. I do suffer from ADHD (which has been getting more severe over the years), which leads to anxiety and depression (I call it the ADHD->anxiety->depression circle, vicious thing). It doesn't have to be accepted. It needs to be fucking fixed. I am in Europe, where it's "accepted" as laziness. So I can't get proper medication and recently started my own mini lab risking years in prison. I realized I am absolutely, undoubtedly fucked without medication, and that's the only solution I came up with, judge me lol. Chemistry is fun, though.