Thread Topic: Is Shyness Normal? When is it a Disorder?
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disorderguy
Joined: May 5, '09
Status: Admin |
2009-07-04 12:55:58 |
In Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became a Sickness by Christopher Lane describes how the field of psychiatry along with the pharmaceutical companies have redefined normal human traits such as shyness to be disorders in need of treatment. This is explained to be something of a conspiracy, "selling disease" to generate new customers. According to Lane, social anxiety is not a true disorder but a "pharmaceutical marketing invention."The book also critiques our society, which is said to value "aggressive sociability" over quietness and introspection. Those who stand to profit from it encourage the view that introversion is somehow deviant and in need of correction. Lane is not without his critics, who point to the fact that his background is not in psychiatric science but in English literature. His book is said to be "anti-science" and full of faulty and out-dated information. Like any good controversy, both sides can support their argument. Is it true that that we as a society almost fetishize sociability? Yes. Is it true that pharmaceutical companies profit handsomly from anti-anxiety treatment? Yes. But in my opinion, conflating social anxiety with introversion and labeling it a made-up disorder goes too far. A degree of shyness is certainly within the "normal" range of human temperament. But true social anxiety is a form of extreme shyness that is quite debilitating to live with and is not at all a made-up disorder. How do other people feel? |
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Unanswered Thread: shyness is ruining my life posted by paul1984 1 hour ago |
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disorderguy
Joined: May 5, '09
Status: Admin |
2009-07-22 07:43:06 |
| I am surprised nobody has shared an opinion! It's a fairly important topic, no? Here is a question: when does shyness cross over from being a personality trait to being a true disorder? | |
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_Steephe_x
Joined: Jul 26, '09
Status: New User |
2009-07-27 00:47:52 |
| I have to say that i would agree with you! Lane is an idiot if he thinks that Shyness cannot be a form of dissorder. I agree there may be certain levels that the average person might have, which could be classed as normal. But for the people like me who have extreme shyness or anxiety issues when around people its a major thing in our lives. Its not something normal and it certainly doesnt feel normal! | |
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Fatality
Joined: Jul 14, '09
Status: New User |
2009-07-27 14:13:38 |
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I'm no expert on this, but I believe shyness is a normal functional trait of each and every one of us, until it interferes with one's daily life or social life, then i would class it as a disorder. But even if we stand corrected by Lane and social anxiety isn't a disorder, those treatments that help people, whether its actually medically or phsycologically (forgive the spelling) would still be worth it, as it still helps people. My two cents, from both sides of the coin. |
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Fatality
Joined: Jul 14, '09
Status: New User |
2009-07-27 16:17:48 |
| And another point i could make, what is the definition of a disorder? No one person can define what makes a disorder a disorder, and no one person can define when a disorder is true, or just a so-called "selling disease" phenomenon, so isn't someone's discretion involved in all of them? Its kinda hard for me to articulate but what i mean is that disorders are opinionated, there is no solid universal proof which could diffentiate what is a disorder and what isn't, and could also be used for any disorder whatever it may be. There is probably a whole variety of disorders, undiscovered and yet to be accepted by the medical world. | |
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disorderguy
Joined: May 5, '09
Status: Admin |
2009-07-27 20:21:11 |
| What the skeptic would say is, the medical world is just looking to create more disorders out of thin air to sell treatments for. Personally I think we as a society have become more enlightened in the recognition of problems such as social anxiety, ADD, autism spectrum disorders, and others. But there is the danger of turning natural human conditions into disorders. The question is where to draw the line. And of course that line is very blurry, therefore it'll be argued over by those on both sides. | |
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HaBliq
Joined: Jul 3, '09
Status: New User |
2009-08-01 02:49:26 |
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This is a very interesting discussion. I think I'm with Fatality, though I'd go one further: while the definition of "disorder" may be subjective, what about the definition of "normal"? Has anyone met anyone who's perfectly normal? I can recall the most socially/emotionally/mentally stable and acceptable people I've met and still find some odd quirk about them, or proof that they are not completely happy about themselves (if you are normal, why wouldn't you have good self-esteem?). If I'm right about no one being normal, then perhaps "normal" doesn't even exist. You could say it's an unreachable ideal, like a pinnacle everyone is looking up to, some from farther down than others. But I'd like to argue that instead of a single pinnacle, maybe there are many different normals. One normal may suit you better than me, for example. So according to your ideal normal, I may have a disorder, but according to mine, I'm not so bad off--though if I live by your judgment, I'll feel bad off, and be bad off if I can't cope with that. In other words, it may be a relativity thing. That to me is part of what Lane was saying when he criticized "our society, which is said to value 'aggressive sociability' over quietness and introspection." In some other society, or some other time, etc., maybe our social anxiety would work in our favor. For example, I know in some Asian cultures, a kind of social timidity is praiseworthy, while assertiveness can be frowned on as rude. I may be stereotyping, but there is truth to it. Whereas that super gregarious jock we all knew in high school may be labeled shy in some more agressive society, and by being labeled shy, he'd feel anxious and may do poorly in life as a result. While I won't argue against getting treatment for anything about you that prevents you from living a productive life (i.e., independence and some measure of fulfillment), perhaps there is a psychological play having to do with perspective. If you think your feelings are wrong, then they may become debilitating. If you think your feelings are uncomfortable but normal, i.e., acceptable (as in, you're not wrong for feeling them and dang it, that's what you feel!--I think what I'm saying is that there's no guilt or shame involved), you may more easily gain that objectivity necessary to not let those feelings control you as much, and to eventually eliminate them completely if possible. For example, if I enter a social situation and I feel completely out of place, I get all these feelings of inadequacy due to my awkwardness and nervousness, and then I find I have a choice: I can feel really bad about feeling bad because it's not normal, or I can recognize I feel bad but so what, I'll live another day, and so will everyone else I inflict with my blunders. And sometimes, if I manage that second perspective, I discover things weren't really as bad as I feared in the first place, and I can loosen up and be...well, slightly less awkward, which in my book is great! So the fear is, if we seek treatment in order to become normal, to be cured of our disorder, but there is no normal, then the treatment can never work. If we seek treatment to accept our disorder--what sets us apart from most other people in a way that can be debilitating--then I'm thinking that could be how more meaningful and more permanent change can take place. In a sense then, perhaps disorders are natural human conditions, and it's our abhorrance and shame of our disorder that is what's unnatural. Anyway, some thoughts! (Or a novel's worth--seriously, I plan to write only a small amount! Me sorry :-s ) |
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kalikmelly
Joined: Mar 2, '10
Status: New User |
2010-03-02 14:49:10 |
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One plausible threshold for determining whether or not medication is indicated would be if the individual cannot function in everyday life because of anxiety, depression etc. Lane's no idiot - but anyone who could be so dismissive of anxiety has never experienced its depths. As a English PhD - he likely has a cognitive approach to research that is at odds with that of the medical community. |
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Hip
Joined: Aug 10, '09
Status: Senior User |
2010-03-02 15:17:21 |
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"but anyone who could be so dismissive of anxiety has never experienced its depths." And anyone who could be so supportive of psychiatric labels obviously hasnt experienced the depth of misdiagnosis, where a functional shy guy's life has been f---ed up because some con artist who calls himself a doctor placed him on strong meds for his exaggerated "anxiety". |
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disorderguy
Joined: May 5, '09
Status: Admin |
2010-03-02 19:43:18 |
| I don't think the functionally shy are motivated enough to go to a doc and get on a drug regimen. But even if they are and do, it doesn't negate the point about Lane's dismissive attitude toward severe anxiety. | |
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Hip
Joined: Aug 10, '09
Status: Senior User |
2010-03-02 20:21:26 |
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Im not talking about voluntaries, though it is possible with them too. You have no idea how many dorks ive turned down back in highschool that came up to me like "dude, you got any drug that will help me get laid"? Some functionally shy people are brave enough to go up to a psyche or anyone and ask for s--- in the hopes of completely reinventing themselves. Hell, i'd get f---ing botox injections right now if I had spare cash, not because I need it but just for the hell of knowing ive completely minimized something for the long term, and its satisfying and even addicting to improve your health. And "severe anxiety" can be misdiagnosed too. On the other hand, social anxiety has a known biological root. Some babies are born with a defect during fetal development where insufficient oxygen was supplied to the frontal lobe, so the baby is born with dead brain cells in the broca's region, which is said to be responsible for social skills. The way I see it, if your brain is in good physical health and you have so called "extreme anxiety" then nothings wrong with you that cant be fixed. |
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Unanswered Thread: paranoid hypochondriac posted by cncathy 10 hours ago |
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