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Re: CHAT: OT CHAT: Asperger's syndrome

From:John Cowan <jcowan@...>
Date:Thursday, June 22, 2000, 16:41
Roger Mills wrote:

> Frankly, I saw a lot of myself in the article. [...]. But, > so what? One does survive.
For every psychopathology there's a "normal" relative; the difference is basically "Is your life under your control, or are *you* being controlled?" My daughter (age 13) and I were watching a program about dissociative identity disorder (aka multiple personality disorder) two nights ago. I explained DID as the state in which you pretend to be lots of different people in order to get away from very painful situations, and then lose track of the fact that your pretends aren't real. Irene has dozens of personalities herself: Sherlock Holmes, Henrietta the dog, a cat, an "invisible bug", Rosa Maria Lopez (the name she would have had if she had grown up with her birthparents), etc. etc. But she *knows* they are pretends. That is what separates her from people with DID. (I know this is a simplistic explanation: it's intended for a child, after all!)
> For that matter, perhaps all "odd" or "excessive" ability could be due to > chemical/hormonal/whatever imbalances-- great athletic ability, political, > business acumen (any comments, Mr. Jordan, FDR/LBJ/RMN/WJC, Mr Gates, Mr > Jobs?)
Winston Churchill was a classic manic-depressive who was able to mobilize his manic periods for nothing less than saving civilization. Most manics just spin their wheels by spending lots of money, driving like lunatics, and having massive amounts of meaningless sex.... which sounds fine until the bills come in. -- Schlingt dreifach einen Kreis um dies! || John Cowan <jcowan@...> Schliesst euer Aug vor heiliger Schau, || http://www.reutershealth.com Denn er genoss vom Honig-Tau, || http://www.ccil.org/~cowan Und trank die Milch vom Paradies. -- Coleridge (tr. Politzer)