the gray areas.

I agree with all of your adjectives. I agree wholeheartedly that in our culture, there’s a huge rush to categorize people (children especially), often using perfectly-normal behavior to arrive at a diagnosis that requires medication. We all know that little boys — naturally active, boisterous little guys — are diagnosed as adhd and put on meds just for being what is normal. On the other side, people who act “odd” walk around for years, until they erupt, at which time neighbors and former teachers express shock that this seemingly-normal person shot and killed 5 people. For me, the most troubling part of this whole topic was what this man said near the end. We categorize people who are only partially psychotic. I agree. One one hand, that seems so terribly wrong. But when that person does finally act on their tendencies and goes on a killing rampage, it’s too late. The damage is done. Five or fifteen or twenty-five people are dead. And if even one of those people is one of our loved ones, we cannot understand why a potential time bomb was allowed to walk the streets.

Thank you for sharing this great presentation. Fascinating. Makes me think…
Putting someone in a labeled box seems too simple. Everyone has several boxes that interconnect like old metal jungle gyms that one can explore by going over, through, and around. There are numerous ways to explore the space, or fall off of it.
Grey is a very large expanse, and I wonder why we so often think of the edges as black instead of white. Is that rim of darkness infinitely expanding since there is no outer border to thought? Do we keep the light enclosed in the center as a safe haven much like a campfire in the dark wilderness? Why don’t we metaphorically place the darkness in the center, and encircle it with infinite light?
Years ago, an employer had me get a psych eval. I was eager to go. I knew that I saw, thought about, and did things a little differently than most, and I wanted someone else to see that. I conversed for an hour or so with the good doctor, and at the end I asked him when I would get to see him again, (because I really wanted to talk more.) He said never…I was one of the most normal people he had ever met. My first response was that of relief, but then came disappointment. I am unique, and he didn’t recognize that. And I wanted to discuss some of the fascinating things I had observed and considered. I wanted that type of conversation with someone who might “get it.” I still search for that…Validation of my greyness.
Does this place me in one of the dreaded boxes, or shift me towards a lighter or darker grey?
Just thinkin’.
(And for the record, that was my only visit with a shrink.)