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I was trying to figure out whether her recent series was two books or three, so I got on her website and ended up finding this recent blog post which made me go AUGH.
Now, I may be misinterpreting it. I hope that what Hobb meant was something like, "Don't mistake normal personality quirks and normal ups and downs for mental illnesses, and attempt to treat them with inappropriate medication. Mental illness is extremely serious business which can ruin your life and kill you if you don't manage it properly, a process which may very well include taking medication, possibly for your entire life. (But it's possible to have an awesome life anyway, just as many diabetics and others with chronic health conditions do.) That is TOTALLY DIFFERENT from being a teeny bit spacy and eccentric. Not the same thing! Don't confuse them!"
...I did not actually read it that way. The way it came across to me was this:
- People with ADHD and ADD do not have real illnesses, and are using medications to make themselves super-attentive, so they never learn to function without them (which they totally could if they applied normal discipline, like her kids do.)
- This is an unfair advantage over people who don't take brain-boosting meds.
- We misinterpret the "artistic temperament" as mental illness and want to medicate artists out of existence.
- If a person who is not actually mentally ill takes drugs intended to treat mental illness, they will obtain an altered personality.
(Note: As opposed to a lot of weird side effects. As far as I'm aware, this is not actually how it works. For instance, I am not bipolar, and so I would guess that if I took a mood stabilizer, it wouldn't make me a less moody version of myself, but would probably only make me feel ill and strange. Is that correct?)
- People who are totally normal and happy are misdiagnosed as mentally ill all the time, solely on the basis of having an artistic temperament or being delightfully quirky.
(Note: I'm not saying no one's ever misdiagnosed. I'm just saying that when it does happen, it's unlikely to have anything to do with artistic temperament and forgetting to drink a mug of coffee you poured.)
Some of us are just not standard issue people. I rather suspect that all of us are not standard issue people but some are better at pretending. In my family, both nuclear and extended, I can trace a genetic heritage that means that every one of us could probably be diagnosed with one mental disorder or another. Yet, for the most part, we are successful people with lives we enjoy (even if others think our lives are a bit strange.)
NO SHIT. If you're happy and successful and leading a life you're pleased with, that means YOU DON'T SUFFER FROM A SERIOUS UNTREATED MENTAL ILLNESS.
This is what it feels like to have a serious untreated mental illness. It's artistic and fun! Thank heavens no one tried to medicate all that artsy goodness out of me!
Now, I may be misinterpreting it. I hope that what Hobb meant was something like, "Don't mistake normal personality quirks and normal ups and downs for mental illnesses, and attempt to treat them with inappropriate medication. Mental illness is extremely serious business which can ruin your life and kill you if you don't manage it properly, a process which may very well include taking medication, possibly for your entire life. (But it's possible to have an awesome life anyway, just as many diabetics and others with chronic health conditions do.) That is TOTALLY DIFFERENT from being a teeny bit spacy and eccentric. Not the same thing! Don't confuse them!"
...I did not actually read it that way. The way it came across to me was this:
- People with ADHD and ADD do not have real illnesses, and are using medications to make themselves super-attentive, so they never learn to function without them (which they totally could if they applied normal discipline, like her kids do.)
- This is an unfair advantage over people who don't take brain-boosting meds.
- We misinterpret the "artistic temperament" as mental illness and want to medicate artists out of existence.
- If a person who is not actually mentally ill takes drugs intended to treat mental illness, they will obtain an altered personality.
(Note: As opposed to a lot of weird side effects. As far as I'm aware, this is not actually how it works. For instance, I am not bipolar, and so I would guess that if I took a mood stabilizer, it wouldn't make me a less moody version of myself, but would probably only make me feel ill and strange. Is that correct?)
- People who are totally normal and happy are misdiagnosed as mentally ill all the time, solely on the basis of having an artistic temperament or being delightfully quirky.
(Note: I'm not saying no one's ever misdiagnosed. I'm just saying that when it does happen, it's unlikely to have anything to do with artistic temperament and forgetting to drink a mug of coffee you poured.)
Some of us are just not standard issue people. I rather suspect that all of us are not standard issue people but some are better at pretending. In my family, both nuclear and extended, I can trace a genetic heritage that means that every one of us could probably be diagnosed with one mental disorder or another. Yet, for the most part, we are successful people with lives we enjoy (even if others think our lives are a bit strange.)
NO SHIT. If you're happy and successful and leading a life you're pleased with, that means YOU DON'T SUFFER FROM A SERIOUS UNTREATED MENTAL ILLNESS.
This is what it feels like to have a serious untreated mental illness. It's artistic and fun! Thank heavens no one tried to medicate all that artsy goodness out of me!
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My sarcasm overflows
Yes, because everything in nature works wonderfully and perfectly and nothing ever goes wrong. Species don't go extinct, asteroids don't hit planets, DNA doesn't get fucked up. No, NATURE NEVER DOES ANYTHING WRONG. Never deals people shitty genetics or a shitty environment.
Which means that any attempt to deviate from "Nature's" plan is obviously a grave sin and a sign of being lazy or selfish. Because wanting to be able to not only hold down a job, but enjoy it and do it competently and be functional and maintain relationships and enjoy your existence is JUST CHEATING AT LIFE.
It makes me wonder, if any of her children had been born with genetically-based and hence "natural" negative conditions that were treatable, if she'd have thought it was "cheating" to have them treated.
I don't know, would treating their conditions hamper their ability to be quirky and artistic and leave coffee cups charmingly strewn around? Because so long as they can do that, DOES ANYTHING ELSE MATTER? REALLY?