Fluther: Do you have a disorder that you hate thinking of as ...

Do you have a disorder that you hate thinking of as a "disorder?"?

Asked by ANef_is_Enuf (26839

) August 16th, 2011
39 responses
“Great Question” (12

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I often hear people going on about how everyone has something, everything is a disorder, everything can be treated with a pill nowadays… etc etc.
Let’s forget all of that, for a moment.

What about you? Do you have a disorder, or something that might typically be categorized as a disorder, but you don’t think of it that way?

For example, I technically have a (diagnosed) sleep disorder. However, I don’t think of it as a disorder, and I prefer not to. I think of it as working very well for me… but society and I disagree.

Please refrain from projecting and pointing fingers at anyone and everyone else’s situation. I simply want to know if there is anything that you feel, personally, about yourself that would fit the description.

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Topics: health, psychology, psychiatry, illness, therapy, emotions, disorders, society, perception

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Answers

How did that merit a GA?

Adirondackwannabe (36713

)“Great Answer” (6

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High blood pressure :-/ I try not to let it hold me back but I do have to remind myself from time to time not to over do it… I’m not getting any younger. still I am only in my mid forties.

Scooby (10294

)“Great Answer” (2

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I like meatloaf and can’t be cured by a pill either!

Cruiser (40449

)“Great Answer” (2

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I get told a lot by lay people that I must have all sorts of disorders because I’m a slob, I don’t sleep well, I never wanted to marry, I like living alone etc. My therapist, however, whom I see for family issues, does not think I do. I am comforted by that, as it can get under one’s skin to keep hearing that I “must” have this disorder or that one because I choose different things.

I’m thinking that this doesn’t really answer your Q, Neffie, sorry… GQ by the way, I think of this stuff…

JilltheTooth (19787

)“Great Answer” (10

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I apparently have ADD, but who doesn’t get bored of reading after a few minutes lol? We need more audiobooks.

Blackberry (33949

)“Great Answer” (7

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A wait a minute, whats that, hold on DD

Unclepepsi (900

)“Great Answer” (2

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@JilltheTooth no way, that is exactly the sort of answer I had in mind. GA.

ANef_is_Enuf (26839

)“Great Answer” (3

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Okay, I’m going to try for a better answer. I have to take blood pressure meds, my knees sound like they’re full of gravel, my gallbladders giving me all kinds of crap, and I snore. But if someone asks me how I’m doing the worst answer they get is reasonable, if not good. What the hell, I’m still on the right side of the grass.

Adirondackwannabe (36713

)“Great Answer” (3

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Just an interesting factoid:
After hearing for so many years that I must be severely depressed because I’m such a slob (thanks, folks, keep telling me that so I’ll start to feel that way!) my attention was brought to an article (can’t link to it, sorry) that discusses different ways that peoples’ brains organize. There was a section on “visual” organizers who need to see what they have in order to maintain an awareness of it. It struck very close to home. I have everything open and on surfaces, and I have a really good handle on what’s there, otherwise I replace stuff…
I found that concept very comforting, and right on the mark.
Differently Organized People unite!

JilltheTooth (19787

)“Great Answer” (13

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Flutherphelia.

CWOTUS (26102

)“Great Answer” (2

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@JilltheTooth Me too! :) There’s not smelly dishes in the sink, but I generally need to have my closet always open, and my stash of toiletries all on the sink etc.

Blackberry (33949

)“Great Answer” (3

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@Blackberry : A fellow DOP! Let’s start a group…

JilltheTooth (19787

)“Great Answer” (3

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I have the same “disorder”. I’m talking about sleep. I sleep whenever I can and most people I know tell me it’s something wrong with me. What’s the problem if I like spending my time sleeping?

Hibernate (9091

)“Great Answer” (3

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@JilltheTooth I’ve known several people that can have stuff all over the place, and still know exactly where everything is. I tend to do it as well.

Adirondackwannabe (36713

)“Great Answer” (4

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I see a major movement starting here!

JilltheTooth (19787

)“Great Answer” (3

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@Adirondackwannabe & @JilltheTooth I am a tidy person in general, but my closet is a disaster. I have a chronic mess when it comes to my clothing, you’d be shocked. Anyhow, I definitely relate to the concept of having a mess but knowing where things are. I get really upset if someone moves around my clothing “mess.” I have that mess a certain way, and I figure if the rest of my house is spotless… I should be entitled to my messy closet. :)

ANef_is_Enuf (26839

)“Great Answer” (4

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Also have panic disorder, hate to call it a disorder, just when I have an attack it feels like im gong to die.

Unclepepsi (900

)“Great Answer” (3

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I probably could be diagnosed with some anxiety disorders but the world really is an unsafe, scary place to live in.

janbb (62858

)“Great Answer” (3

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I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 14. I was prescribed Ritalin, then later Dexedrine. I refused to take it after I graduated from high school, and I have not taken the prescribed medication for over 15 years. I hate that it is labeled a “disorder’! I have been living my whole life with this “disorder”, and I have not seen any major attention problems at work. Yes, at times I can get easily distracted, but it in no way affects my work quality or production. I generally find that ADHD works great with my personality, and makes me more of an out-going and sociable individual. Am I wrong to think ADHD or ADD is mislabeled as a “disorder”?!

Bill_Lumbergh (1468

)“Great Answer” (6

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@Bill_Lumbergh : This is an example of a list I found that I thought was appropriate when I recognized myself in a few adult ADD descriptions. There are others, and it’s nice to see the other perspective. Look for some of those other lists as well, they’re very cool!

JilltheTooth (19787

)“Great Answer” (4

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@Bill_Lumbergh I have ADHD and I’m proud of it. I used to be ashamed of my “disorder”, then I came to Fluther and the Jellies (like @JilltheTooth) educated me on the benefits.

rOs (3531

)“Great Answer” (3

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@JilltheTooth – Great website link, thank you!

@rOs – I am not ashamed either, but disappointed in the medical practice for labeling ADD/ADHD as a “disorder”. Thanks for the website links as well!

Bill_Lumbergh (1468

)“Great Answer” (2

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@Bill_Lumbergh It’s a problem I’ve been mulling over for the past couple months actually – why didn’t anyone tell me this?! Why did the therapists, doctors, and other adults fill me with so much doubt? Was it really necessary to make me feel so insufficient around my peers? I feel like they reinforced the negative side effects while stifling the positive traits – I truly hope that has changed since the 90’s.

rOs (3531

)“Great Answer” (1

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OCD – had it since I was a kid, learned to constrain it and live along side it. It’s my good friend now xP it makes up part of who I am, and I am FINE with who I am :-)

fremen_warrior (5510

)“Great Answer” (2

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I was diagnosed with ADHD too—@Bill_Lumbergh‘s thoughts are exactly how I feel. I’m also in the DOP club (@JilltheTooth… a new diagnosis for me? Ha!) I was also diagnosed with PTSD, but I don’t pay attention too much to that; I just stay aware when a trigger is activated.

Like I’ve said on several posts (ad nauseam) I’m deaf—but I don’t consider myself disabled at all. I’m part of a rich, thriving international community and am in no way isolated in my daily life. I would not take a “hearing pill” any more than a most minorities would take a “normal” or “white” pill. There are drawbacks (#1 drawback: stupid people thinking I’m dumber than them, ooooh that gets my goat) but I see them as part of my life, no more/less than other “disorders.”

[edit- I’d love to see the same people who hawk the “become hearing surgeries” (that don’t work as well as they want people to think) walk into a gay bar or ethnic group with a “normal” pill and see what happens. That’s how strongly I feel about preserving my community.]

linguaphile (14574

)“Great Answer” (5

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I think everyone has a little OCD. Even if it is – oh, did I unplug the iron? I have been known to return home to check on that one.

smilingheart1 (6439

)“Great Answer” (1

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@smilingheart1 I think a misunderstanding of the disorder and stereotyping leads many people to feel that way. Quite to the contrary, I don’t think that everyone has a “little OCD,” I just think that OCD is normal human behavior gone terribly awry.

ANef_is_Enuf (26839

)“Great Answer” (2

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@ANef_is_Enuf , point taken! Roots are sometimes a parent who put a hefty weight of importance on something. For example, Howard Hughes and the excessive handwashing emphasis his mother instilled. Little hang ups do grow up to be full blown troubles.

smilingheart1 (6439

)“Great Answer” (1

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Sleep apnea because I barely snore.

King_Pariah (11484

)“Great Answer” (1

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I see nothing wrong with being aware that I need to pay special attention to a specific issue. To be blunt, when there’s something wrong with me, I can admit it.

@smilingheart1 You are misunderstanding what obsession and compulsion are.

YARNLADY (46378

)“Great Answer” (1

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Officially I have Gender Identity Disorder. I guess it only counts as a disorder so as to allow access to treatment.

downtide (23815

)“Great Answer” (5

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My disorders have disorders

Unclepepsi (900

)“Great Answer” (4

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I experience a multitude of wretched feelings, but I prefer not to refer to them as a disorder. I often find that defining oneself in terms of a disorder causes one to lose a part of themselves/give themselves up to that “disorder”. I am who I am.

stardust (10562

)“Great Answer” (2

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I hate to sound like a broken record but I’m going to have to go with the whole cockus giaganticus that I have been afflicted with since puberty.

Blondesjon (33994

)“Great Answer” (3

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I have ADHD and honestly I am quite fond of my ‘disorder’ I feel that my energy level is an asset and needing less sleep makes me more efficient. ;) the people in my life might tell you that I talk too much or never sit still but I like that as well

JessicaRTBH (1821

)“Great Answer” (3

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Does Aspergers count?

jerv (31076

)“Great Answer” (1

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I have high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.

I like to think of them as “big guy issues I treat with pills” even though they’ll likely kill me someday.

cookieman (41606

)“Great Answer” (3

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@JilltheTooth Any chance you still have this article about people needing to see the things they have? Because that actually sounds just like me, but I just figured I was a slob (which, ok, I kind of am, but it is true that if I put something away, I forget that I have it and replace it).

Aethelflaed (13752

)“Great Answer” (1

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@Aethelflaed : It was pointed out to me by a friend, I’ll try to find out if she can source it for us. I’d love to have a copy myself to shove in the faces of rude folks. Gee, maybe I have some aggression issues as well? ;-)

JilltheTooth (19787

)“Great Answer” (2

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