Are there really so few genuine ethics dilemmas to discuss that Prof. Appiah, aka.”The Ethicist,” has to resort to answering dumb questions like this? An inquirer asks,
I’m in my 30s and have multiple motor and vocal tics that started in my early teens and have never gone away. As far as I can tell, I fit the diagnostic criteria for Tourette’s syndrome… Can I say I have Tourette’s without being formally diagnosed? I’m wary of doing so, given that self-diagnosis is looked down upon for medical issues generally and specifically in the case of Tourette’s; there has been a recent rash of people on social media falsely claiming to have it. But I feel that telling people that I have Tourette’s, which is a label many people recognize, would allow me to talk about my tics more freely and in so doing help counter the mild shame I have around them. It might even educate others on the range of severity with which Tourette’s can present, i.e., that it’s not always so noticeable. But I’m very concerned about seeming to co-opt a group’s struggles, and I don’t know if I need a formal diagnosis to be welcomed into groups for people with Tourette’s, either. What is your view?
Ugh. “Seeming to co-opting a group’s struggles”? This is what living in Woke World does to people. What does the fact that jerks on social media lie about something have to do with the inquirer telling the truth? If the guy is sure he has Tourette’s then he can say he has Tourette’s: it’s not a lie, and there’s no law, rule or ethical principle that you have to get a doctor’s opinion before you say you’re suffering from a malady when there is good reason to think so.
“Syndrome” means a collection of symptoms: yeah, if you compulsively lick your shoulder, shout out “Fuck!” for no reason and periodically bark like a dog, I think it’s fair to assume you have Tourette’s. There are some drugs that help control the symptoms: obviously one needs a physician’s diagnosis to get a prescription.
People who have a disease I have a lot of experience with, alcoholism, frequently diagnose themselves and stand up at AA meetings without having a formal diagnosis. None of them that I’ve known have ever worried that they are “seeming to co-opt a group’s struggles.”
“The Ethicist” got this one right, but seriously: he’s paid to answer questions like that? I encounter ten more legitimate ethics conundrums every day.
Ethics Alarms 
That inquiry made my left eye twitch.
How dare you co-opt the struggles of left eye twitching Americans for a punchline.
I am of two minds on this.
On the one hand (mind?), I self-diagnose a bit. I figure I am “on the spectrum,” but, then again, it is a spectrum, so I expect most people are on it. I recognize OCD tendencies I have, but I don’t think I have OCD. I also notice things I do that are common to people with Tourette’s, but I don’t think I “have” it. I have not been diagnosed with anything. And, I would probably would not hold myself out as having it, but not because I would be stealing someone else’s struggle. I simply don’t know.
Other things, however, colds, flu, etc. I don’t feel I need a professional diagnosis to hold myself out as someone afflicted by a condition.
On the other mind, if a client comes to me with an issue, it is often very important to know, “Is there a diagnosis?” “When was it?” “What was it?” Etc. In certain legal settings, criminal cases, employment, housing, and probate, having a professional opinion is critical.
-Jut
Good grief, buddy. See your general practitioner, ask them what they think, and then get a referral to a neurologist. Is that so hard?
I’m going to make a point, and it’s kind of in response to Jut’s post above, but not really…. I was considering how to word it as I was scrolling down. I don’t like the way people talk about being “on the spectrum”, and it’s part of this weird habit that lefties are using to co-opt disability… It’s like stolen valor, if valor was disability clout.
Part of this is claiming autism is probably the easiest way for the average Oppression Olympian to gain status by claiming neurodivergency because it’s gotten to the point where we’ve lost the narrative on what autism is to the point where literally everyone thinks they have it a little bit.
Part of that is that there seems to be this influx of moderately anal retentive people attempting to pathologize their behavior that coincidentally started with the same generation that grew up with “one person is charismatic, the other’s superpower is autism” crime and medical procedurals.
Part of it is that because of the two aforementioned points, the delineating differences between levels of spectrumicity have been whitewashed away: You have a quirky tick and like Sudokus? You’re on the spectrum, and Fox has a series for you. You’re nonverbal, need stim, overeat, and beat up your parents? Also on the spectrum, but you’ll never make it onto TV.
And that’s been absolutely awful for people living with autistic family members who genuinely need support. In fact, because the people who agitated for the retirement of diagnosis like Asperger’s from the DSM tend to be of the self-diagnosed, clout-chasing variety, this is one of the many examples where the goals of the activist class work directly at cross purposes to the needs of the people they ostensibly represent.
As to the case in point? Tourette’s is less sexy that autism, but still makes for great TV. If you think you have it, see a doctor, and stop asking stupid questions to strangers on the internet who aren’t even as qualified as WebMD.
In response to Humble Talent, but more by way of further exposition, I studied a lot of Kant in college and graduate school. And, by a lot, I mean A LOT(!!!), pre-Critical writings, his scientific writings, his work on Logic, religion, politics, astronomy, etc. I might have even read one of his works on the Lisbon earthquake of 1755.
The fundamental takeaway from this was that he ultimately included that his entire philosophical project was to answer the question “What is Man?” I began to consider it to be my task, as well.
I also take as an article of faith Terrence’s statement that “I am a human being and nothing human is foreign to me.” (That point of view does not sit well with people who want to take the view that, “I am different and there is no way you can understand me.” I don’t know if they are right, but I don’t want to believe that they are right; a good degree of sociopathic, or even psychopathic, behavior could be justified by such a belief. And, yes, it can be very troubling to recognize sociopathic or psychopathic tendencies in oneself.)
Anyway, from there, I read a lot of books by Oliver Sacks. In his works, he often explores people who have odd problems, Tourette’s being one patient, agnosia, aphasia, migraines, deafness, blindness, memory loss, etc. Maybe it is confirmation bias, but looking at the way these people interacted with the world gave me some clues about my own behavior. That, in turn, gives me some degree of empathy to believe that “those people” are not different in kind, but only different in degree. But, even if I am wrong, they do make for a fascinating study of the variety and extremes of the human condition. I highly recommend his works.
And, in general, Sacks is much easier to read than Kant.
-Jut
One of the themes of my fiction is that brilliance is a double-edged sword. Fortunately for me, Jut, it’s never been a problem with which I’ve had to deal.
Kay Redfield Jamison does a great job writing about her schizophrenia. My favorite Jeffrey Sacks patient was the guy who was struck by lightning and could all of a sudden play classical piano at a near professional level, even difficult Schumann, as I recall. Come to think of it, maybe I should try walking around in a thunderstorm. Would sure beat years and years of weekly lessons.
“Come to think of it, maybe I should try walking around in a thunderstorm.”
A thunderstorm…in your environs, OB? Rotsa Ruck!
PWS
Paulie. You have no idea. The weather out here is spectacular. Particularly in the summers. Tremendous rainstorms. Summer is actually our favorite season in Southern Arizona. Plus, all the people from Wesconsin leave us alone and head to the U.P.