> "Disease" does not mean "thing that makes you feel bad." If everybody had
> MS, it would not be a disease, anymore than aging is a disease.
>
>
Good point... oh, wait, no its not...
This kind of crap is exactly what leads to the "identifying with the disease" nonsense. "No, its only a disease because the rest of society says it is - its really just you, because you're different...".
Fucking bullshit. I believe Doug Henwood had Barbara Ehrenreich discussing this on his radio show a few weeks back. Its the same old bullshit. I'd advise people who buy into this sort of thing quite simply: if you care so much about people with diseases, if you really want to think about it concretely - and this goes for psychiatric disorders as well - don't relativise them; don't take the stance of the "beautiful soul" and attribute all bad things to "society" - recognise their reality, study medicine of psychology and make a contribution. Otherwise, to be frank... shut up!
I'm sorry to be so blunt about this, but having to listen to this stuff in the humanities departments all the time just vexes me. No wonder those in sciences like medicine laugh at those in the humanities - they really come across as fools when they start spouting their "theories" about these things...