I really don't know what to think about that article, though it is really making me think. This quote really said a lot to me:
Quote:
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“Mental illness is feared and has such a stigma because it represents a reversal of what Western humans . . . have come to value as the essence of human nature,” McGruder concludes. “Because our culture so highly values . . . an illusion of self-control and control of circumstance, we become abject when contemplating mentation that seems more changeable, less restrained and less controllable, more open to outside influence, than we imagine our own to be.”
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I personally struggle with this because I often feel deficient because I am unable to control my mental processes. In fact, this is probably one of the worst feelings in the world, not being in control of my faculties. Its interesting to know that in other parts of the world, this ability of the self to control all mental manifestations, doesn't exist the same way as it does here.
As far as a brain disease vs an inner self disorder, I lean towards inner self. Mostly because I know that I personally have been through horrifically traumatic events in my life that have shaped much of what I am.
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"School is shortened, discipline relaxed, philosophies, histories, languages dropped, English and spelling gradually gradually neglected, finally almost completely ignored. Life is immediate, the job counts, pleasure lies all about after work. Why learn anything save pressing buttons, pulling switches, fitting nuts and bolts?" Bradbury, Ray Fahrenheit 451 p 55-56
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