Introduction: Disorder - both in narrative and of narrative - is omni-present today, and trauma and syndromes proliferate: Tourette Syndrome1 has become a trope for the whole post-modern condition... Amnesia is more widespread than in living memory... Attention Deficit Disorder adds up... These disorders and their names are more familiar to us than ever before, and the terminology of trauma and symptomology no longer belongs to a narrow professional (medical or therapeutic) register. We are disorder-, syndrome- and trauma-aware like never before. This greater awareness and label dissemination indicates that a popularisation of trauma terminology has taken place, and that these labels have entered a wider cultural field. The reason for this could be that we now like to mirror ourselves in the various offerings of available trauma images, trying on trauma for size. This is also reflected in the increasing number of popular culture treatments in various media of psychological disabilities, whether it be in books, TV or films (portraits of sufferers of mental disorders are always potential Oscar-winner material for movie actors). The late 1990s and early 2000s have especially brought us numerous portraits of Tourette sufferers. A search on Amazon.com reveals no less than 1.327 books with references to the word Tourette in them, many of them offering personal testimonies about living, and presumably coping with the syndrome. This number alone seems to suggest, not only that the syndrome is widely known and discussed in the general public, but also that a certain voyeuristic interest has developed, since it is hardly possible that all these books are only read by relatives of Tourette patients or the patients themselv... ... middle of paper ... ...ley, New York (1999) Lefcourt, Peter: The Woody, Simon & Schuster, New York (1998), Lethem, Jonathan, Motherless Brooklyn, Faber & Faber, London (2000) Miller, James: “The Voice in Tourette Syndrome” in New Literary History, Summer 2001, Vol. 32 Rubio, Gwyn Hyman: Icy Sparks, Penguin USA, New York (1998), Sachs, Oliver: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Picador, London (1985) Schleifer, Ronald: “The Poetics of Tourette syndrome: Language, Neurobiology, and Poetry”, in New Literary History, Summer 2001, Vol. 32 7 1 The syndrome is variously referred to in the medical literature as ”Tourette’s Syndrome”, “Tourette Syndrome”, or “TS”. For simplicity I use the abbreviation “Tourette” whenever appropriate, or, for reasons that will become apparent, in a few cases the acronym “TS”. 2 Hyperlink http://www.hum.aau.dk/~i12bent/Recent_Lectures/TourettePop.html
In an Amazon.co.uk interview titled “Magic, Mystery and Mayhem: An Interview with J.K. Rowling,” when asked about the way she came up with the names of characters in her books, she replied, “I invented some of the names in the Harry books, but I also collect strange names. I've gotten them from medieval saints, maps, dictionaries, plants, war memorials, and people I've met!” J.K. Rowling chose these names for a reason based on the deeper meanings behind every character's name and the way they relate to their roles and personalities. In Octavia E. Butler's short story “Speech Sounds”, Rye and Obsidian were the names she chose for her characters. Rye, the name of the main protagonist which symbolizes home and earth yearns to reconnect with her family and to rebuild a family of her own while Obsidian, the supporting character, is named after a type of lava stone, which is believed to contain magical properties that “absorbs and destroys negative energy such as anger, criticism, and fear” (Zagata). The names of the characters have two purposes: to describe the character's role and personality, and to give them an identity.
Tourette’s syndrome is a disorder where the affected individual will consistently exhibit “tics”. In the majority of cases these ticks are minor in character, it may just be the urge to blink, or make certain facial gestures. Less than 15% of individuals exhibit coprolalia, which is the unwarranted exclamations of profanities or other socially forbidden remarks. Perhaps those in our generation who are aware of Tourette’s syndrome have learned its symptoms through pop culture, which has glamorized (to some extent) the more severe cases of Tourette’s syndrome in YouTube videos or the animated satire of South Park. Most with Tourette’s syndrome have been diagnosed 5-8 years in childhood and experience the waning of the number and severity of tics by the time the graduate high school. For the most part, Tourette’s syndrome alone will not prevent an individual from success in the institutions of society, as it doesn’t affect the intelligence or capability of individuals. These cases, often called pure TS cases, are usually the exception. More often than not, sufferers of Tourette’s syndrome are more limited socially by common comorbid conditions like obsessive compulsive disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders.
The nature of the disorder makes it difficult to treat, since patients are convinced that they suffer from a real and serious medical problem. Indeed, the mere su...
1. "Rett syndrome." Holly A. Ishmael, MS, CGC. and Tish Davidson, A.M. The Gale Encyclopedia of Neurological Disorders, Second Edition. Ed. Brigham Narins. Detroit: Gale, 2012. 2 vols.
The prevalence of trauma of all types is widespread throughout much of the world and includes trauma from accident, child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, political conflict, war, or other human struggles. The many faces of bullying, hatred, economic insecurity and oppression (racism, sexism) leave a steady stream of survivors carrying the burdens of fear, anxiety, rage, and physical illness.
Nancy Mairs, born in 1943, described herself as a radical feminist, pacifist, and cripple. She is crippled because she has multiple sclerosis (MS), which is a chronic disease involving damage to the nerve cells and spinal cord. In her essay Disability, Mairs’ focus is on how disabled people are portrayed, or rather un-portrayed in the media. There is more than one audience that Mairs could have been trying to reach out to with this piece. The less-obvious audience would be disabled people who can connect to her writing because they can relate to it. The more obvious audience would be physically-able people who have yet to notice the lack of disabled people being portrayed by the media. Her purpose is to persuade the audience that disabled people should be shown in the media more often, to help society better cope with and realize the presence of handicapped people. Mairs starts off by saying “For months now I’ve been consciously searching for representation of myself in the media, especially television. I know I’d recognize this self becaus...
Burton, Neel, MD. "The 10 Personality Disorders." Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, LLC, 29 May 2012. Web. 7 Jan. 2014. .
Kutscher, M. (2005). Kid’s in the syndrome mix of ADHD, LD, Asperger’s, Tourette’s, Bipolar, and More! London, England: Jessica Kingsley.
Norris, Fran H. “Epidemiology of Trauma: Frequency and Impact of Different Demographic Groups.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 60.3 (1992): 409–418. Print.
In 1987, Nancy Mairs argued that physical disabilities are not represented correctly in the media and television. And recently, Rosie Anaya disagrees by explaining that mental disability is suffering worse representation than physical disability. People with mental disabilities are not realistically portrayed on television. Thus, this unrealistic portrayal results in a negative stigma on mental disability and can further isolate those with disabilities.
Trauma is spread through close relationships with trauma survivors. Those most at risk for developing secondary trauma are those who are witness the emotional retelling of the trauma, including family, friends, medical providers. This retelling may come in many forms such as: through speaking, writing, or drawing (Whitfield 59). One develops secondary
To be more specific, this disorder is referred to as Autism or ASD, Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Using narratives to gain an insight into human experience is becoming an increasingly popular method of exploration. Assuming that people are in essence narrative beings that experience every emotion and state through narrative, the value of exploring these gives us a unique understanding. Narrative is thought to act as instrument to explore how an individual constructs their own identity (Czarniawska, 1997) and explain how each individual makes sense of the world around them (Gabriel, 1998). It may also give us an understanding into individual thought processes in relation to individual decision making practices (O’Connor, 1997). It is evident from studies such as Heider and Simmel (1944), that there appears to be an instinctive nature in people to introduce plots structures and narratives into all situations, with an intention to construct meaning to all aspects of life in its entirety. The value of narrative is that it is a tool that allows us to understand what it means to be human and gives us an insight into a person’s lived experience whilst still acknowledging their cultural and social contexts. Narrative is thought to be significance as it is ‘a fruitful organizing principle to help understand the complex conduct of human beings (p.49)’ (Sarbin, 1990) The construction of a person’s narrative is thought to be dependent on each person’s individual awareness of themselves and the circumstances that surround them. However, a debate to whether a person is able to formulate a valid narrative in the face of a mental illness such as schizophrenia has emerged. Sufferer’s symptoms are often thought to interfere with their abilities to perceive within a level deemed acceptable to their society’s norms and therefore the validity ...
According to Elias, Binit, and Shah (2014) it is estimated the 10 million to 20 million Americans suffers from ET and 6.3 % of the population is affected worldwide. The average age of onset is 52, but can present at ages greater than 60 and as young as 8 years old. Males are minimally affected more than women and there is no discrimination related to the patients’ race. ETs is a progressive disease that can negatively impact patients’ gross motor skill such as writing, getting dressed, cooking meals, fine motor skills such as writing thus causing distress at home and in the work environment. This disease can have a great impact on the patient mental health resulting from co...
Labelling theory was acknowledged and more commonly known during 1960’s yet towards the 1980’s it was seen as less supportive and was being critiqued by other scholars and theorists. One of the reasons to why labelling theory was becoming less supported and critiqued more frequently was due to lack of research being conducted in the field, however in recent years there has been an increased interest in labelling theory and its perspectives (Lopes and Krohn et al., 2012, pp. 457-458).