I have always assumed that the only workable way of defining "ability to function" is to let the person define it themselves. If you feel like you're functioning adequately, then you are. None of this "we can't treat you til you've felt like shit for minimum three weeks" nonsense for me!
But I take your point, and you know as well as I do that psychiatry both can and has been (/is?) used to supress non-conformity. Indeed, I've read articles by people who claim that they are asexual and have no sex drive (without it being a problem for them) and feel that the DSM-IV targets them in the same way it used to target gay people, because "lack of desire for sex" is often listed as a symptom.
At least they don't lobotomise women who feel like they ought to have rights anymore... :-)
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2006-02-19 06:01 pm (UTC)But I take your point, and you know as well as I do that psychiatry both can and has been (/is?) used to supress non-conformity. Indeed, I've read articles by people who claim that they are asexual and have no sex drive (without it being a problem for them) and feel that the DSM-IV targets them in the same way it used to target gay people, because "lack of desire for sex" is often listed as a symptom.
At least they don't lobotomise women who feel like they ought to have rights anymore... :-)