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Guest
Guest
This is a response to recent inferences that if everyone who suffers with anxiety disorder did a few specific things, we would all be healthy.
I do a lot of things in my life. Mostly, I am a music teacher. It has been my experience that a small portion of the population is either tone deaf or has perfect pitch. In addition, it seems like this portion of the population is about the same percentage either way. In other words about 2% are tone deaf and 2% have perfect pitch.
I say this because these are the anomalies of the population. About 96% of the population fits nicely in the bell curve of music pitch recognition and about 4% do not. Keep in mind that these 4% have real issues with music pitch. I know quite a few musicians with perfect pitch who find it practically impossible to sing with a piano that is out of tune. I have also tested many folks who are tone deaf who cannot recognize pitches.
Here is the kicker. There are music experts who believe that anyone can be taught perfect pitch and that no one is completely tone deaf. I have often wondered if these experts are developing their opinion based on their own personal experience with music or if their opinion is based on scientific fact. It has been my experience that the 96% of folks who fit in the bell curve can to some extent be taught to recognize pitches. Some can be taught better than others, but most in this group can be taught some level of pitch recognition. So can we say that the "normal" group can be taught to recognize pitch to some degree? And what about the 2% who do not fit into this group. Should we insist that they too can learn this skill even if they do not have the capacity to even recognize a pitch? Should they be brow beaten with "facts" that may work with the "normal" population but do not work for them?
Even more important, doesn't the fact that they are a statistic in the bell curve make them a part of the normal population? In fact, a very important part? Because they are the difference, they show the weakness of grand categorization. They show that it is these differences that make up a true "normal" population.
Unfortunately, experts do not like the anomalies. Their job is to put together "proper" groupings/labels and the "right" way to deal with those groupings. It is unacceptable for many experts to even acknowledge that anomalies exist, even if those anomalies include relatively large numbers of people.
So it is not all that hard to understand why many doctors/researchers feel anxiety sufferers should "just get over it" and that drugs will only make it worse. In addition, those folks who have been able to will themselves better (sometimes temporarily) for an anxiety problem often feel that everyone can do it if they just try.
So are anxiety sufferers not normal? What is normal? I believe I am as normal as any other person I meet. A normal human being has crosses to bear. They may be short or too tall, too heavy or too thin, incredibly intelligent or not too bright, healthy or sickly, happy disposition or moody. These are all normal folks doing what normal folks do. Shall we work to make them all 5 feet 11 inches, 165 pounds, 110 IQ, with a happy disposition and healthy all the time or should we acknowledge and respect their differences while trying to help them toward a better quality of life? I prefer the latter.
I do a lot of things in my life. Mostly, I am a music teacher. It has been my experience that a small portion of the population is either tone deaf or has perfect pitch. In addition, it seems like this portion of the population is about the same percentage either way. In other words about 2% are tone deaf and 2% have perfect pitch.
I say this because these are the anomalies of the population. About 96% of the population fits nicely in the bell curve of music pitch recognition and about 4% do not. Keep in mind that these 4% have real issues with music pitch. I know quite a few musicians with perfect pitch who find it practically impossible to sing with a piano that is out of tune. I have also tested many folks who are tone deaf who cannot recognize pitches.
Here is the kicker. There are music experts who believe that anyone can be taught perfect pitch and that no one is completely tone deaf. I have often wondered if these experts are developing their opinion based on their own personal experience with music or if their opinion is based on scientific fact. It has been my experience that the 96% of folks who fit in the bell curve can to some extent be taught to recognize pitches. Some can be taught better than others, but most in this group can be taught some level of pitch recognition. So can we say that the "normal" group can be taught to recognize pitch to some degree? And what about the 2% who do not fit into this group. Should we insist that they too can learn this skill even if they do not have the capacity to even recognize a pitch? Should they be brow beaten with "facts" that may work with the "normal" population but do not work for them?
Even more important, doesn't the fact that they are a statistic in the bell curve make them a part of the normal population? In fact, a very important part? Because they are the difference, they show the weakness of grand categorization. They show that it is these differences that make up a true "normal" population.
Unfortunately, experts do not like the anomalies. Their job is to put together "proper" groupings/labels and the "right" way to deal with those groupings. It is unacceptable for many experts to even acknowledge that anomalies exist, even if those anomalies include relatively large numbers of people.
So it is not all that hard to understand why many doctors/researchers feel anxiety sufferers should "just get over it" and that drugs will only make it worse. In addition, those folks who have been able to will themselves better (sometimes temporarily) for an anxiety problem often feel that everyone can do it if they just try.
So are anxiety sufferers not normal? What is normal? I believe I am as normal as any other person I meet. A normal human being has crosses to bear. They may be short or too tall, too heavy or too thin, incredibly intelligent or not too bright, healthy or sickly, happy disposition or moody. These are all normal folks doing what normal folks do. Shall we work to make them all 5 feet 11 inches, 165 pounds, 110 IQ, with a happy disposition and healthy all the time or should we acknowledge and respect their differences while trying to help them toward a better quality of life? I prefer the latter.
