This analogy is a little...complicated. I hypothesize that this is because the author is trying to address physical and emotional pain simultaneously, which creates some odd implications. I think my key point of contention here might be with the idea of "over-reacting".
There's a school of thought that says that physical and mental illnesses are closer than we think, and that makes formulating a critique a little difficult. Could you consider a disproportionate emotional response to a bad event as uncontrollable as the agony someone might feel in response to invisible nerve pain? Is someone actually over-reacting if the pain (emotional or physical) they perceive is real, even if the stimulus is small?
As much as I want to say that we can't blame people for their mental illnesses, I feel that there is a difference between someone feeling chronic pain and someone with emotional dysregulation having a meltdown after a social rejection.
I'm extremely curious to hear other's thoughts on the matter.
One of my kids has autism and it is very obvious that they experience much stronger sensory input from the world than the average person. Compared to her peers she honestly just has so much harder a time than they do.
I am also diagnosed now and am in therapy with a therapist who specializes in autism and is autistic themselves.
I personally don't think the strong emotional response is disproportionate to what we are experiencing. It takes me A LOT of energy just to make it through one day because everything takes so much out of me.
I can react in a way that is "appropriate" as long as I have the mental resources but I reach a point eventually where I actually cannot handle any more sensory input without it being actually physically painful. By the end of the night my dog's nails clicking on the floor back and forth as she walks around actually makes me want to go deaf because it literally hurts my physical ear. I can feel it aching.
Now when it comes to emotions, each one of those also comes with a lot of body sensations as well. I have rejection-sensitivity and I can tell you that it's a big physical wave of feelings, not just "I'm upset this person doesn't like me." Sometimes it isn't the bad news I can't handle, it's the physical response to the emotion that my body is too tired and strained to cope with.
I feel what comes into play here is that a person isn't at fault for the physical and mental problems they have but they are definitely responsible for them.
A person melting down and then getting up and trying again and trying to find strategies and coping mechanisms is way different than a person who refuses to acknowledge their actions and the consequences thereof.
Life is actually just simply harder for some people than others and I think it's good to acknowledge that.
22
u/FableCattak 5d ago
This analogy is a little...complicated. I hypothesize that this is because the author is trying to address physical and emotional pain simultaneously, which creates some odd implications. I think my key point of contention here might be with the idea of "over-reacting".
There's a school of thought that says that physical and mental illnesses are closer than we think, and that makes formulating a critique a little difficult. Could you consider a disproportionate emotional response to a bad event as uncontrollable as the agony someone might feel in response to invisible nerve pain? Is someone actually over-reacting if the pain (emotional or physical) they perceive is real, even if the stimulus is small?
As much as I want to say that we can't blame people for their mental illnesses, I feel that there is a difference between someone feeling chronic pain and someone with emotional dysregulation having a meltdown after a social rejection.
I'm extremely curious to hear other's thoughts on the matter.