Jon Ronson Quote
Psychiatric diagnoses are getting closer and closer to the boundary of normal, said Allen Frances. That boundary is very populous. The most crowded boundary is the boundary with normal.Why? I asked.There’s a societal push for conformity in all ways, he said. There’s less tolerance of difference. And so maybe for some people having a label is better. It can confer a sense of hope and direction. ‘Previously I was laughed at, I was picked on, no one liked me, but now I can talk to fellow bipolar sufferers on the Internet and no longer feel alone.’ He paused. In the old days some of them may have been given a more stigmatizing label like conduct disorder or personality disorder or oppositional defiant disorder. Childhood bipolar takes the edge of guilt away from parents that maybe they created an oppositional child.
Psychiatric diagnoses are getting closer and closer to the boundary of normal, said Allen Frances. That boundary is very populous. The most crowded boundary is the boundary with normal.Why? I asked.There’s a societal push for conformity in all ways, he said. There’s less tolerance of difference. And so maybe for some people having a label is better. It can confer a sense of hope and direction. ‘Previously I was laughed at, I was picked on, no one liked me, but now I can talk to fellow bipolar sufferers on the Internet and no longer feel alone.’ He paused. In the old days some of them may have been given a more stigmatizing label like conduct disorder or personality disorder or oppositional defiant disorder. Childhood bipolar takes the edge of guilt away from parents that maybe they created an oppositional child.
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About Jon Ronson
He has been described as a gonzo journalist, becoming a faux-naïf character in his stories. He produces informal but sceptical investigations of controversial fringe politics and science. He has published nine books and his work has appeared in publications such as The Guardian, City Life and Time Out. He has made several BBC Television documentary films and two documentary series for Channel 4.