Sometimes it's hard for others - as well as ourselves - to realize the resources and talents we have. This is particularly the case if we are handicapped in some way. The difficulty in spotting talents in the handicapped is less if the disability is physical; it's much greater when the disability is mental or emotional. But it is not impossible. We learned that Thorkil Sonne was able to see how his son's autism could be a valuable resource in the business world. Today's example can be found in the NY Times.
Elyn R. Saks is schizophrenic but also a chaired professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, holds an adjunct appointment in the department of
psychiatry at the medical school of the University of California, San
Diego, is on the faculty of the New Center for Psychoanalysis and has been awarded a MacArthur Foundation genius grant.
Saks has been able to accomplish all this, first of all, because she refused to listen to those who advised her to accept the limitations of her condition and spend her life as a handicapped person. Then, she has received excellent psychoanalytic treatment and medication, has developed coping strategies and knows that she will always be schizophrenic.
She acknowledges that not all mentally ill people have the resources to fully break out, "But the seeds of creative thinking may sometimes be found in mental
illness, and people underestimate the power of the human brain to adapt
and to create".
A very powerful and moving article.
No comments:
Post a Comment