I found a newspaper article online called “Finding the Cure for Genius” and I was fascinated by the main premise of the article, which in the words of neuroscientist Colin Blakemore goes something like this, “As medicine hones in on the genetic causes — and potential cures — for mental illness, do we risk destroying the very force behind some of humanity’s greatest thinkers”. The question is serious and runs deep into the veins of our social institutions, educational systems, belief paradigms, historical perspectives and everything touched by the evolution of the human being. It asks the blatant question, “What is normal?” and do we really want to live in a world where everyone is “normal”. What is the measurement paradigm to decipher what we think is normal? Is it simply a measurement based on the majority or measurement based on the average human experience of life? Where do the exceptions fit in? Are the exceptions welcome or do we consider them a disease that need to be brought back to the norm through medication? Can these people be helped with lifestyle changes instead of medication that changes their brain chemistry? Is part of the problem for the mentally ill, the inability to feel welcome or to be part of a system that turns them into outcasts that need to be cured? Is there a way to change the rules for education, career development and social norms that focuses more attention on the individuals strengths and weakness and pays less attention to a ‘one size fits all’ paradigm? How many potential Einsteins, Newtons, Blakes or Beethovens have we prevented from becoming great because we feared the ‘craziness’ of their personality or thoughts?

I don’t necessarily have answers to any of the above questions, but I do know that the questions need to be answered. I also understand that there are circumstances that do require the use of medication to prevent horrible outcomes that threaten the safety of the individual and/or society. However, if we look at our current health paradigm and our approach to treating disorders, we can easily see how broken the current system is. We rarely treat disorders from the bottom up. Our approach is usually from the top down where medication is the first and more often than not, only solution. I guess it’s the easiest solution so it is continually used. Feeling bad or acting strange? Take a pill and you’ll feel better. We easily forget how complex and integrated the proper functioning of our organism is. Why don’t we first start off with the basic building blocks of our pyramid of health - diet, exercise, and sleep and progressively move up the pyramid as needed, leaving medication as a last resort? If medication is needed immediately, then set up a program where medication will be given in conjunction with the basic building blocks of our organism, with the hope of reducing or eliminating the need for medication. Build a new model for psychotherapy where diet, exercise and talk therapy are all part of the same program, helping individuals integrate all three into their lives. The greatest cure for disease is prevention.

As for our social institutions, educational systems, belief paradigms and historical perspectives, I think it’s time we begin asking what we want these systems to produce. Perhaps mental illness fits into these systems as a different way of thinking that is not currently supported socially or emotionally by what we’ve been taught and continue to propagate. Perhaps evolution has given us mental illness so that we can look at the same problems in completely new ways. Perhaps mental illness is natures way of warning us that we are headed in the wrong direction and need to change our path. Perhaps the change that is required is a matter of embracing and harnessing the extreme thoughts and emotions of mental illness and transforming them into something beautiful. Whatever it may be, we need to develop a better understanding of mental illness because our apparent progress appears to be producing more of it. Mental illness is being diagnosed at an alarming rate and more children now than ever are on psychotropic medications for mental illness.

We’ve touched every corner of our planet, traveled into space, seen far off galaxies and produced technological wonders beyond belief, perhaps it is now time to turn inward and focus more attention on the mysteries of the human organism and its relationship to everything else. Our planet is in peril by what we call the ‘normal’ way of thinking, huge populations of the world are starving to death while other populations are dying from eating too much, we’ve polluted the planet to the brink of irreversible damage, we’ve killed millions in the name of religion that’s main premise is peace and we’ve let profits dictate our moral compass and have knowingly done unforgivable acts to populations of the world without remorse. Perhaps the problem with mental illness is simply our perception of what we think is ‘normal’.

Finding the Cure for Genius
Link to News Article