Quote:
Originally Posted by bluebicycle
That's interesting. When I worked in a research lab in grad school, we suspected that my research professor had ADHD, especially since she mentioned a couple of times that one of her sons was diagnosed with it. All of her "behaviors" appeared to have aligned with the diagnostic criteria as well. Of course, nobody told her anything because, well, it wasn't our place to talk to her about it.
Anyway, I think having mental illness yourself makes you more attuned to "seeing" mental illness in someone else. I also think having mental illness tends to (but not always) make you more empathetic than the average person. However, what's frustrating from me is wanting to help that person, but knowing (again) it's not my place to talk to them about it unless they approach me and ask for help.
But yeah, hopefully your professor's next lecture won't also be a doozy. Maybe this past lecture will be a one-off.
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Thank, bluebicycle. I do feel similarly. Luckily, though, this professor was a one-time deal. The lecture series has a different professor for each week it's held. I think people would likely complain if every week was like yesterday. Normally I would I have written to the school that offered the lecture series, but there was a representative from the school there listening, as well. If they agreed with me, they would likely not ask him to speak in the future. It's a pity if mental illness did indeed play a part in his odd presentation. During the lecture, he made references to talking to colleagues and them disagreeing or seeming perplexed with his ideas. This could be highly embarrassing for him in the future, but perhaps if he's usually highly respected it can be looked past. The university where he's a visiting scholar has a history of tolerance (to various degrees) when it comes to scholars/scientists with mental illness or extreme eccentricity. That may seem like an odd fact to know, but I do.