Remedy Your Own Disorders, Not Society’s

I’ve been in a rut lately. Unfortunately, I can’t exactly pinpoint why. Maybe it’s been a while since my last rut, maybe it’s just time.

There was a time when these moments greatly concerned me, such as when I was a teenager. Ah, the teen years, didn’t you love those days? Such a confusing and hectic time, with that whole puberty and soul-searching thing. You know, that whole period of finding yourself — discovering who you are and who you’re going to be for the rest of your life. Yeah, it’s a fun time.

I was very moody as a teenager. I suppose I’m still moody now, but I like to think that I’ve gotten better. During my teen years, I seriously questioned whether I might be bipolar. Just thinking about the possibility scared the hell out of me. But when we don’t have answers to questions, we search for them. Sometimes we come up with some crazy conclusions. And our plans of action might not be the solutions we need.

I believe that America is a nation that is too heavily medicated. I’m not saying that all medication is bogus. I understand that some people do genuinely need it. But it seems that more and more people are getting on anti-depressants. And it seems that children are being fed ritalin as soon as possible. What’s up with this? Can so many people truly need all of this medication? Can we all really have the same disorders?

My answer is very simple, and it is this: yes and no.

Why yes and no? In some cases, I think that there may be nothing wrong with the medicated individuals. The disorder they’re medicated for is not their own; it is the disorder of the masses, the disorder of society.

Sometimes society can be very inflexible. Society carves out a set of norms and expects everyone to fall into place and follow suit. And if you don’t follow these norms, something is wrong with you. Obviously, you must be the problem because everyone else complies, right? Some people will do whatever it takes to fit the mold. They wear the right clothes, they hum the right tunes, they pop the right pills. They choose to buy into the dream — the American dream.

We Americans pride ourselves on being a society of individuals (is that an oxymoron?). But the irony is that you can be an individual as long as you’re like everyone else. As long as you still fit their mold.

And what is the mold? The mold is whatever everyone else is doing — working the cubicle job for the hope of climbing the corporate ladder and getting the corner office. And doing it with a smile on their faces. Happy and compliant, never questioning a thing. And my question is this: who the hell does this?

For some reason, we’re taught that bad moods are a bad thing. They should be shunned. Folks, if you get a bad mood from time to time, there’s nothing wrong with you. That is normal. That is natural. If you get frustrated at something, no worries — it happens. If you never get frustrated or get into a bad mood — now, that is not normal.

Who started this idea that we’re always to be cheerful? People who try to play this role frighten me. There’s something fake about it. I’m sorry, but I can’t do it. That’s not me. Some days I’m not 100%. And I can’t say that I’m the most consistent personality. If I had to describe myself with song lyrics, I’d choose a line from “Bittersweet Symphony” by The Verve: I’m a million different people from one day to the next. That perfectly describes how I feel about myself. Am I bipolar? No. Life is bipolar. Life is not consistent, it is not an everlasting wave of euphoria. It’s a wave of ups and down, of highs and lows.

I strongly believe in the importance of self-reflection. You should always examine yourself and see how you can better some of your faults. But also, you have to ask yourself if you’re remedying your disorders or if you’re remedying society’s disorders.

We don’t all fit the same mold. We don’t all have the same desires. We can’t all be at this even tone every second of every day. And we shouldn’t, not if we are to be individuals. What’s right for me may not be right for you. And that’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with you and there’s nothing wrong with me. There’s something wrong with the people who can’t understand that very simple concept.

Tagged as: bipolar, disorders, expectations, society