Neville says “You mean real mental health issues like schizophrenia, or the made-up stuff like ADD?”
The irony is that a well known psychiatrist said schizophrenia doesn’t exist back in 2016. But where does your belief end? ADHD doesn’t have a proper test. Neither does Fibromyalgia, MS, lupus, or autism. Do they not exist?
Unfortunately we live in a world where any child that doesn’t conform needs a label. If people stopped giving into their kids and started parenting (disciplining), removed sugars and dyes, shut off the electronics, and made their kids run around, about half the cases of autism, ODD, and ADHD would disappear. Then the doctors could treat the kids that really needed it.
And as someone who grew up with ADHD, there is a beauty to it. We can multitask in a way most people can’t. We see solutions that most people can’t, and solve problems differently. (When I started ADD medications I lost that ability). We have more energy. Similarly, people with autism (another “fake” condition) can be savants and have huge advantages in certain fields.
But back to illness, mental or otherwise. There are issues that can be cured if they are treated early enough, but too many parents are afraid to share the truth. We have come a long way from simply putting people in a home, but we have a long way to go. If someone isn’t violent, they deserve to live the way they were created.