Re: CHAT: Profile of a Conlanger

On Thu, 13 May 1999, Eli Naeher wrote:

> It certainly does
> seem as if the incidence of mental illness is unusually high on this list,
> which makes me even more inclined to think that "mental illness" is simply
> societally legitimized prejudice.
I think you may be right. The other possibility (that conlanging is a
symptom of mental disorder) doesn't appeal to me.

I've never been under treatment for mental illness (I know I'm not
unique, but we may be a minority), and it strikes me that nearly all
the *Americans* have - I read once that 80% of American adults and
60% of American teenagers have, sometime in their life, been treated
for mental disorder. Is it really a cultural thing, that is, is the
threshold for actually going to see a shrink so much lower in the
United States than in Europe, or is it that the absolute incidence of
mental illness is higher in the United States than in Europe?

   Irina


            Varsinen an laynynay, saraz no arlet rastinay.
                     irina@rempt.xs4all.nl (myself)
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