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540 points drankl | 12 comments | | HN request time: 0.855s | source | bottom
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hresvelgr ◴[] No.44485587[source]
The lovable aphorisms we had for people with character quirks were largely from our original support systems. What no one is talking about is the reason therapy-talk has become so pervasive is because all those support systems: family, friends, and local communities (religious or otherwise), have all degraded so severely for most that therapy is the only option for reaching out and getting help.
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deanCommie ◴[] No.44485696[source]
except they weren't really "support systems"

i mean they were, if you got lucky.

If you were neurotypical; if you bought in to the local religious sect's particular flavour and embraced it wholeheartedly; if you followed the other local cults of sports fandoms; if you were lucky enough to either have family without their own trauma that didn't take it out on you OR decided to repress it in exactly the same way that they did and just simply passed it forward or didn't talk about it.

i don't know what the ratios are but a LOT of people fell through the cracks.

it's just that the birth rate was high enough to continue the population growth, and there were socially acceptable ways to ignore the inconvenient problems (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemary_Kennedy)

it's why there's now suddenly an influx of ADHD and Autism diagnosis - because in the past anyone outside of the norm who wasn't lucky to do one of the things above was simply ignored, beaten, or died.

now the stigma is gone and we're finding EXPLICIT paths to treatment, tolerance, and embracement of mental health, neuroatypical brains, spectrums, etc. Is there overpathologizing? Maybe? Hard to know! The stigmas still aren't gone. Go read the comments on any video providing tips on how to parent children on the spectrum and see neurotypicals freaking out about how soft the current generation is.

the western world seems to have peaked in tolerance in the 2010s, and is now backsliding into authoritarianism and fascism. that's trying to recreate a lot of those original support systems (by destroying the new ones). It's a bold plan, let's see how it happens.

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1. typewithrhythm ◴[] No.44485953[source]
There is substantially more going on than "tolerance vs intolerance". We have a huge influx not just because of changing diagnosis standards, but also because the financial benefit for getting a diagnosis has also expanded.

The views of people you are trying to label as fascist are more accurately described as individualism vs welfare state.

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2. wredcoll ◴[] No.44486186[source]
Ahh.. indiviualism, is that the one where you shouldn't have to help anyone else as long as things are going fine for yourself?
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3. stevenAthompson ◴[] No.44486199[source]
What financial benefit would a diagnosis have?
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4. Mtinie ◴[] No.44486226[source]
I can assure you that from my singular anecdotal experience that a diagnosis does not imbue economic and financial benefit.
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5. stevenAthompson ◴[] No.44486243[source]
Ayn Rand has a lot of friends here. She also described the neurodivergent as "subnormal" and thought that society should do nothing to help them or the handicapped. Additionally, she believed that "normal" children shouldn't have to ever interact with those who were mentally different as it would harm the "normal" children.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1HD8KXn-kI

6. Spivak ◴[] No.44486270[source]
I can second the assertion. It's absurd that people really believe folks are getting benefits from having a mental disorder. It's literally the "welfare queen" nonsense just directed at a new group.

You don't even get social benefits, no one excuses your behavior just because it has a label. You get told it's your fault for not managing your disorder properly. Have you seen how we treat people with visible, obvious, undeniable disabilities? Like shit.

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7. typewithrhythm ◴[] No.44486342[source]
Depending on the specific services in an area: everything from subsidised legal access to medications, to access to accommodations in schools seen as favorable (private environments to take tests, or extended deadlines). Some areas have specific assistance to parents of children with a diagnosis. Some have easier access to disability support services and payments.
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8. typewithrhythm ◴[] No.44486369[source]
You can call it selfish, but you can't call it fascist.

In my perspective, it's less about what you should or shouldn't do; its about making sure that question is down to your individual morality.

9. intended ◴[] No.44487116{3}[source]
What about diagnoses in countries which do not have any of these support systems?
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10. stevenAthompson ◴[] No.44493434{4}[source]
This is a really great question. I checked.

Turns out that the poorer a nation is, the less reported autism they have. That could be because there is no benefit to the diagnosis or it could be because they have less healthcare in general and a real diagnosis can easily take 4-8 hours of clinical time.

Interesting either way.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9386174/

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11. stevenAthompson ◴[] No.44494050{3}[source]
66% of autistic adults admit having suicidal thoughts. 35% have attempted suicide.

If they're faking it for benefits they are REALLY committed to the bit.

12. nradov ◴[] No.44495235{5}[source]
Or it could be because poorer countries actually have lower rates of autism. I'm not claiming that's the case, just that we don't have any reliable data on it one way or the other.