Year of the Rat #9: Assburgers for EVERYBODY!

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Just sayin'.

[Golden Applesauce]

There is also a greater access to neurologists, psychologists, and psychiatrists, at least in first world countries.  Conditions that are just been challenging, as opposed to severely disabling, are more likely to get noticed.

[BADGE OF HONOR]

It's a normal variation, the reason it's "more common" is that there are more people.

But that makes no logical sense, taken literally. If 10% of people have red hair, red hair does not become more common as a proportion of the population when the population increases. It stays at 10%.

10% of 10 people = 1 person
10% of 100 people = 10 people
etc etc

The larger the population, the more people who have x problem.  I have no idea whether there's been a change in the rate of occurence over time, but if every single person who has, say, Aspbergers can't shut up about their problems, that adds up to a lot of people very quickly.  Especially on the internet where there is no physical limit to the population.

I am trying very hard not to talk out of my ass here, hope I'm being understood. 

That's more people, not a higher rate of occurrence. "More common" = "higher rate of occurrence".

No matter how many more people there are in the world, unless the rate of occurrence changes, something cannot become "more common".

  I know that.  Hence "more common" being in quotations in my first statement.  Thanks for treating me like a retard though.

[Darth Cupcake]

There is also a greater access to neurologists, psychologists, and psychiatrists, at least in first world countries.  Conditions that are just been challenging, as opposed to severely disabling, are more likely to get noticed.

This is true.

But there's also more coddling for this.

Previously people were sad and they would get over it. Now people are sad and they want paid time off from work, extensions on deadlines, leniency from their landlord that they keep turning in rent late... Because it's a CONDITION.

You would not believe the hoops I have to jump through to help coddle some of the students in this university. First the professors make concessions, but then they hand all of the bureaucratic crap involved in this over to me, and suddenly giving someone with ADD a bunch of special treatment becomes a nightmare.

I'm sorry, I have to do a bunch of extra work because you are too special to A) take the exam at the same time or in the same location as the rest of your class B) hand-write anything C) not have twice as much time? And then you don't show up to the exam and I have to go through this whole scenario again to set it up a second time? I thought final exams were a one-shot deal. No, apparently, if you have ADD and so you FORGET TO GO TO AN EXAM you still get hugsies and a do over.

My sister thinks this is because there is no consistency. She teaches 8th grade science and finds that her students don't behave themselves because they don't have to--although they are threatened with "perform behavior A and you will be denied reward B" they nonetheless perform behavior A and all that happens is someone says "shame on you, you shouldn't do that!" but they still receive reward B. This is made even more frequent when any excuse under the sun can be generated. So, if you can say "well, I know I shouldn't have done behavior A, but I have condition C which makes it just SO HARD not to do behavior A!" then you get let off the hook, still get your reward, and probably don't even get scolded.

So why NOT get a condition? It sure as hell makes life a lot easier.

And although I'd love to blame this on shrinks or whatever, they're just giving the patient what they want, and if you don't give the patient what they want, you don't get paid.

Me, I would LOVE to tell those kids "shut the fuck up, you didn't show up to your final exam TOO FUCKING BAD!" but then I'd get fired. And I like getting paid. So I jump through hoops to accommodate the little brats. Shrinks are largely doing the same thing.

[Random Probability]

Me, I would LOVE to tell those kids "shut the fuck up, you didn't show up to your final exam TOO FUCKING BAD!" but then I'd get fired. And I like getting paid. So I jump through hoops to accommodate the little brats. Shrinks are largely doing the same thing.

This is, of course, the answer.  It sounds like the very job you do is feeding the malfuction in the machine.  Do it MOAR!!!!  Set the little fuckwits up for failure.  Find ways to shuffle them through the system without learning a goddamn thing.  I'm betting they will promote your ass, give you fat loot, and implement your policies far and wide.  This will lead to the inevitable destruction of this unholy mess and we can all wallow in a morass of apocalyptic destruction while praising your name!!!!

Or, you know... not.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

It's a normal variation, the reason it's "more common" is that there are more people.

But that makes no logical sense, taken literally. If 10% of people have red hair, red hair does not become more common as a proportion of the population when the population increases. It stays at 10%.

10% of 10 people = 1 person
10% of 100 people = 10 people
etc etc

The larger the population, the more people who have x problem.  I have no idea whether there's been a change in the rate of occurence over time, but if every single person who has, say, Aspbergers can't shut up about their problems, that adds up to a lot of people very quickly.  Especially on the internet where there is no physical limit to the population.

I am trying very hard not to talk out of my ass here, hope I'm being understood. 

That's more people, not a higher rate of occurrence. "More common" = "higher rate of occurrence".

No matter how many more people there are in the world, unless the rate of occurrence changes, something cannot become "more common".

  I know that.  Hence "more common" being in quotations in my first statement.  Thanks for treating me like a retard though.

I wouldn't have patiently explained if your response hadn't indicated that you weren't getting what I said in the first place.

Sorry for treating you like a human being instead of laughing and calling you names, next time I'll just do that instead.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

A lot of fairly smart people, myself included, don't always "get" statistics, and since I don't really know you, I have no way of knowing whether you do or don't.

As for why I'm not convinced that your explanation works, unless there's an actual per capita incidence increase, there's not necessarily a reason for the perceived incidence to increase. Statistically, there is a higher incidence of diagnosis for Asperger's, ADD, and other psychiatric disorders, but what's unclear is whether that's because of an increased rate of those disorders, or simply more diagnosing of them.

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

ALL THIS COD-DLING MAKES ME HUNGRY SICK!

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

I enjoyed the rant Roger, but it's only a matter of time before Cain reposts his collection of "back in the good ol' days" quotes from ancient history.

I do think you're right about overdiagnosing though.

It's my impression that people with disabilities have been encouraged by counselors and whatnot to disclose their issues more often in order to get special treatment (ideally when this is warranted).

Combine this with kids being notorious for weaseling out of work and the overdiagnosing/overprescribing of drugs by "doctors," and it seems we have a recipe for a IANAR pandemic.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

It isn't that there is "more" Asberger's or AD(H)D, or depression; it's that where in the past people were expected to overcome such obstacles (albeit to the detriment of many), these days we just write a script and medicate these people into "normalcy." The problem with that, though, is that the "normalcy" these people become accustomed to is not actually very healthy. First of all, it's substance-dependence. Secondly, we are not fighting the root causes of these syndromes, because to face that beast would make EVERYBODY need some fucking Prozac. We don't want to admit that our addiction to convenience and instant gratification is making us sick, physically, mentally, and culturally. We don't want to put in the effort it requires to be well-rounded, well-educated, or well-spoken.

Our entire society is fast becoming a club for non-joiners. Where we once had to depend for our very survival on the people around us, we have disconnected from ourselves and each other, and addicted ourselves to a synthesized approximation of community that is manufactured not to replace the functions of the vital social bonds our civilization is build on, but to sell us on the idea that everything Humans have spent the past 50,000 years striving for is now, magically, available at a low introductory rate and can be delivered in six to eight weeks.

It is not TV specifically that has caused this, but TV has led the charge. It symbolizes the modern institution of the One-Way Society. The myth that there is a They out there, somewhere, looking out for Us; and that we no longer need each other because we have the TV and the blessings of the Modern Age.

[Verbal Mike]

@vex,

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Bollocks to you all.  Back in the dim, long ago days when The Good Reverend was just a little girl, people were stupid.

But not this stupid.

They were also crazy.

But not this crazy.

[Daruko]

when The Good Reverend was just a little girl

There's one for the archives. (no diss, issa funny)

[Adios]

Maybe it's also something we have removed from the system. Exercise. Back in the day when I was young, dumb, and full of cum we never just sat around watching tv or playing stupid games. We were active. Physically. Discipline has also been removed. Monkeys need to be punished when they are acting stupid, not 'timed out' or 'talked to sternly'. If we had a problem with each other we could pound the snot out of each other. While this never altered a personal position it did allow us to get the fuck over it and move on. Now this involves conformance training. And medication with some fancy label to excuse 'abnormal' behavior.

just rambling, what the hell do I know.

[P3nT4gR4m]

Maybe it's also something we have removed from the system. Exercise. Back in the day when I was young, dumb, and full of cum we never just sat around watching tv or playing stupid games. We were active. Physically. Discipline has also been removed. Monkeys need to be punished when they are acting stupid, not 'timed out' or 'talked to sternly'. If we had a problem with each other we could pound the snot out of each other. While this never altered a personal position it did allow us to get the fuck over it and move on. Now this involves conformance training. And medication with some fancy label to excuse 'abnormal' behavior.

just rambling, what the hell do I know.

You're not allowed to say things like that! Studies have shown....