Just waiting for a drug to be developed to treat this little known, yet devastating condition.
So are psychologists just truly clueless or are they so tuned in to their need to pathologize everyone who is not happy with themselves that they are willing to actually pathologize everyone who is not happy with themselves? I’m not meaning to be heartless, here. If there is a legitimate neurobiological issue involved then let’s focus on that. This particular presentation of a new disorder characterized by ‘selective eating’ manages to come off as simultaneously dismissive and ridiculously exaggerated, neither of which is really very helpful for people who perceive themselves to be sufferers. I’m sure this condition causes a fair amount of subjective distress, but suggesting that picky eating ranks up there with anorexia or bulemia and that they all fit under the broad category of eating disorder makes ‘selective eating’ appear rather silly and pale in comparison. I have no doubt that there are people whose pickiness transcends normal human behavior and that it might even be pathological, but then it isn’t truly ‘selective’ is it and the term has the potential to medicalize a whole segment of the population who just may have different views on food and not just those with a real impairment.
Makes me think of a new ad out for a drug for ‘difficult menstrual periods.’ As opposed to what? Happy, fulfilling menstrual periods? Good grief, not every aspect of the human condition is a disease requiring a treatment from a pharmaceutical company. This particular drug is not approved for PMS or PMDD, artificial categories recognized by the FDA as ‘legitimate’ physical ailments, because it is only for milder physical symptoms, formerly known throughout centuries of human experience as ‘cramps.’ How is it that all of these issues ably faced by human beings since the beginning of time only became diseases and disorders for which medical intervention is required in the past few decades? Here’s a clue–watch Mad Men. Besides the fact that efforts to turn being human into a disease are often nothing more than marketing ploys with little relationship to to true biological phenomenon, it is stunning to me that people willingly put all sorts of chemicals into their bodies to treat mundane issues that often resolve on their own if left alone. This is insanity. Maybe this researcher should next do a study on ‘ ‘Gullibility About Disorders’ Disorder.’
(Cartoon by Mike Adams and Dan Berger at NaturalNews.com: http://www.naturalnews.com/021665.html)
