Are many social labels just providing excuses for unacceptable behavior?

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   IDONOposted 12 years ago

   Are many social labels just providing excuses for unacceptable behavior?
   
   A moody person is now called bi-polar. You can get disability for this.  An idiot behind the wheel now suffers from "road rage". It seems like a lot of labels make the offender , now the victim.

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2. 82

   msvioletsposted 12 years ago

   I think it's sort of the opposite.  Our society has created such rigid boundaries that instead of allowing people the space they need to create the tools they need to function individually; they need a label in order to do what they instinctively need.  Such as take a break during a nonbreak work hour, or a day off if they're overwhelmed easily. 
   Bi polar is much more than moods.  It's moods that reach debilitating proportions and make it impossible for a person to function normally due to an imbalance of chemicals in the brain.  Identifying this problem can help a person who seems erratic on paper keep their job while they find the tools they need to keep their 'moods' under control.  In this society that label provides a very necessary function.  There was a day when it would have been accepted that mild symptoms were just a quirk, and friends would pick up the slack while being supportive.  The sufferer would have reciprocated once they could.  Of course, severe symptoms always needed treatment.  Sometimes that treatment was pretty unpleasant.  :-(

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3. 60

   DAWNEMARSposted 12 years ago

   Social labels may provide information about the cause of some behaviors. It is not an offense to have a mental condition. Unacceptable behavior is still unacceptable no matter what the cause may be. Prevention would require understanding the information. Then acting on it.

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4. 80

   LillyGrillzitposted 12 years ago

   We know that there are people who have mental defects, and these are true medical issues.
   
   People who are rude, unethical, and carelessabout the well-being of others are rising in number.
   
   The common phrase used for bad behaving, but otherwise healthy individuals; "That's just the way they are.." is a lammo excuse in today's world.
   
   Wonder why some get away with terriblle behavior, while others are not allowed to act this way.
   
   Television promotes rudeness,  and a lack of concern for others.

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5. 61

   Peter Leeperposted 12 years ago

   Wow.  I kind of hope you wrote this question to be intentionally provocative as opposed to truly believing that what you state is happing is the norm.
   
   I am afraid to tell you that bi-polar disorder and being moody are completely different animals.  Moody people don't tend to cut up their arms and fly off the deep end to the point where they are a menace to society.  Bi-polar people do when not medicated properly.
   
   Your second bad example of an idiot behind the wheel suffering from road rage is kind of silly...  I don't know anyone who has even said that someone has been clinically diagnosed as having "road rage".  Road rage is a behavior not a condition.  I have never every heard anyone claim a person who committed road rage was the victim.
   
   I bet you also  believe that all people who are underwater with their mortgages were just stupid people who were trying to live beyond their means and the banks selling them adjustable rate mortgages at sub-prime rates had no responsibility for people over extending themselves by taking advantage of the housing market at the time.  And since it is almost a certainty that you are some kind of Tea Party Republican that you still believe that de-regulation of the banking industry didn't play a huge role in the housing market along with the overall recession that occurred as a result?

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6. 93

   peeplesposted 12 years ago

   As a person who really has BiPolar I am annoyed with how the word is just tossed around at anyone with a bad attitude who likes to treat people like crap. I have suffered BiPolar almost my entire life. I am unmedicated by choice and I have never acted in a bad way toward my husband. Yet I have seen many people treat their spouse in a horrible way and then claim it was the Bipolar. I have a severe case that I know how to deal with because I have had it so long. Maybe that's why I don't act in these horrible ways I hear about. Maybe screaming at everyone and never owning your actions is Bipolar and I just have a different type. I won't pretend to be a doctor, but I will say I think a lot of these people that claim to really have a problem either have never been diagnosed or were diagnosed by an idiot! However in many cases someone can really do bad things and really have a problem. A mental illness does NOT make an offender a victim. It may make you look at why they became an offender and be able to answer the "Why did he do it" that every one asks when a crime is committed.

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   1. 59

      IDONOposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      You are the person I feel bad for. You have a genuine condition but are being lumped into the same group with all the fakes. That was my point, not to be over-thought. A shortcoming is not our fault, but recovery from it is our responsibility. Thanks

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   Clive Donegalposted 11 years ago

   I think the division between societal labels and name-calling is a little blurred here. I don't know that one who exhibits "road rage" is considered a victim. It is only shorthand to describe a behavior that most of us have observed.
   similarly, I think that labeling a group as "idiots" denies that others might be experiencing pressures that we don't understand.
   There is significant difference between being moody and being bipolar.
   There is a huge difference between excuses and reasons.
   A peson who is bipolar for example, has no excuse if he chooses not to treat it, even though the illness is the reason for his behavior.
   The label that seems to be missing is "compassion."

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