on 2/28/07 5:27 PM, William Pietri at william@scissor.com wrote:
Some people argue that ADHD is an adaptive trait, just not in the modern context. And as Jameson shows pretty well in "Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament," even things that we clearly consider maladaptive can be channeled into outlets with substantial societal value, even when they are personally harmful. Another good example is Temple Grandin, a high-functioning autistic whose substantial successes are rooted directly in her autism. And in my own field, top-performing computer people are notoriously quirky.
I would be unsurprised to learn that a disproportionate share of Wikipedia contribution comes from people with traits considered diagnosable by what the Aspberger's community somewhat sneeringly refer to as "neurotypicals". And not in spite of their differences, but because of them.
William,
Please be careful how seriously you take Jameson¹s book. But that¹s a thread for a different Mailing List.
As for ADHD: it is obscene how some therapists and the pharmaceuticals have exploited this condition. ADHD used to be called by another name: boredom.
The focus of my work is the treatment of human psychosocial disorders, regardless of the person¹s profession or occupation. The disorders you refer to are blocks to creative expression and productivity; they are not conditions to be exploited for the benefit of some end product.
A great many of the persons I have worked with over the years have been artists of various disciplines; many of which have been stage and screen performers - some of these developed into actors. These persons came to me seeking help with specific problems occurring in their lives. As it is most often with the persons I work with, it wasn¹t so much the present issues, but their inability to cope with the feelings and emotions these issues elicited. During the course of our work together, not only did their personal lives improve, but they also found that their work had vastly improved the performer had become an artist. And, even more importantly, the person had become pain free. These artists found the emotions required by the honest rendering of their characters were more honest and believable. They did, through their own personal confrontation with these emotions, no longer fear, and, therefore, block them. To be more honest and effective the artist must confront their own personal issues (blocks) with the feelings and emotions required by the scene (or role). The person must be able to accept and allow those feelings without fear or reservation. This presents to the person not to the artist, who is first a person. If a person allows them self to feel the feelings that elicit that emotion, the result can be infinitely more believable. Indeed, in any work toward a goal, if the person is preoccupied with the feelings and emotions the journey toward that goal is producing, the goal itself takes a back seat.
Marc Riddell