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Jun. 11th, 2010 19:09"Here is my reasoning. You have to be who you genetically are. Part of my scattered focus is related to my artistic temperment[sic]. (Artistic temperment is sometimes spelled 'tendency to manic depression.') It means that I can end up with two cups of warm coffee on my desk (and who drank one of them already?) or with twenty pages of good text after a wild and exuberant evening of just talking to myself and playing the stereo too loud. I think it is just how I am wired and a part of who I am. I gave up fighting it years ago, and instead I’ve enjoyed it. There are devastating lows and breath-taking highs to my moods and through it all, I keep writing. Life’s a roller coaster for me. I’ve come to accept that. In retrospect, I’m glad it was never medicated away, even though my recollections of my twenties are tinged with a lot of darkness." Megan Lindholm/Robin Hobb
http://www.meganlindholm.com/2010/05/20/this-is-your-brain-on-drugs/
Rachelmaninja had a few disagreements about this on Dreamwidth and LiveJournal June 9th. (http://rachelmanija.dreamwidth.org/738070.html)
On June 10th, I read Sharon Lee and Steve Miller's sf novel _Fledgling_. Major plot element: evil dogooder government wants protagonist put on brain meds to alleviate her harmful-to-society clumsiness. I have enough tolerance for authorial positions I consider stupid that I continued reading. (Note: I don't consider "stupid" an exact synonym for "wrong." Among sf/fantasy writers, I consider Jerry Pournelle mostly wrong but mostly not stupid.)
My experience: I have one condition which some people consider a mental disability, and which I have no intention of taking meds for. I also have several conditions some people don't consider mental disabilities, and for which I advocate taking meds.
Synesthesia isn't classified as a mental illness. And in relatively recent times, I've found it useful in organizing my thoughts. My only problem is annoyance when sf writers Get It Wrong.
(As it happens, there aren't any drugs intended to "cure" synesthesia. But if I ever decide I don't want to be a syn, I could self-medicate with drugs which other people take to induce temporary synesthesia.)
I do consider ADD/ADHD a disability. The medication I take for it is off-label for this use; it's primarily an antidepressant. It works for me, and as a bonus I suspect it has contributed to my reduction in anxiety. (Acrophobia, tangiphobia, Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I didn't ask about anti-anxiety drugs because I took the anxieties too much for granted. I suspect that what I used to consider my normal was other people's panic-attack level.)
http://www.meganlindholm.com/2010/05/20/this-is-your-brain-on-drugs/
Rachelmaninja had a few disagreements about this on Dreamwidth and LiveJournal June 9th. (http://rachelmanija.dreamwidth.org/738070.html)
On June 10th, I read Sharon Lee and Steve Miller's sf novel _Fledgling_. Major plot element: evil dogooder government wants protagonist put on brain meds to alleviate her harmful-to-society clumsiness. I have enough tolerance for authorial positions I consider stupid that I continued reading. (Note: I don't consider "stupid" an exact synonym for "wrong." Among sf/fantasy writers, I consider Jerry Pournelle mostly wrong but mostly not stupid.)
My experience: I have one condition which some people consider a mental disability, and which I have no intention of taking meds for. I also have several conditions some people don't consider mental disabilities, and for which I advocate taking meds.
Synesthesia isn't classified as a mental illness. And in relatively recent times, I've found it useful in organizing my thoughts. My only problem is annoyance when sf writers Get It Wrong.
(As it happens, there aren't any drugs intended to "cure" synesthesia. But if I ever decide I don't want to be a syn, I could self-medicate with drugs which other people take to induce temporary synesthesia.)
I do consider ADD/ADHD a disability. The medication I take for it is off-label for this use; it's primarily an antidepressant. It works for me, and as a bonus I suspect it has contributed to my reduction in anxiety. (Acrophobia, tangiphobia, Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I didn't ask about anti-anxiety drugs because I took the anxieties too much for granted. I suspect that what I used to consider my normal was other people's panic-attack level.)