Comments on: Some Remarks on Louis Theroux’s ‘America’s Medicated Kids’ https://conditionalpublications.com/2010/04/21/louis-theroux-americas-medicated-kids/ The Home for Writers with Neurological Conditions Sat, 22 Aug 2020 21:16:49 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.29 By: anonymous https://conditionalpublications.com/2010/04/21/louis-theroux-americas-medicated-kids/comment-page-1/#comment-2164 Thu, 12 Dec 2013 20:20:36 +0000 http://conditionalpublications.com/?p=418#comment-2164 I’ve just finished rewatching this and searched on the internet to see if anyone else was as horrified as I was watching the programme. I had particular sympathy for the boy you say is “clearly” aspergus – I personally saw no indication that he had difficulty with non-verbal communication, or that he struggled with theory of mind – he may have spoken inappropriately at times but this seemed absolutely fuelled by anger.

To be honest, perhaps I related to him because he reminded me of me at his age in some ways – and yes, I did go on to suffer mental health disorders including eating disorders, anxiety disorders and major depression, but I fully recovered in my late 20s after therapy (I’m also not against medication, but in my specific case medication held me back). I can remember being full of rage when I was 10, and taking on an arrogant “I am the nemesis” persona (at that age, I wanted to have the superpowers from the film Carrie, which I would use on all the other children) and speaking and behaving in a precocious ‘adult’ manner. But I was just completely driven by anger – absolute fury – rather than mentally ill. And it certainly wasn’t irreversible as I later proved!

Every time I watch this programme I just want to give him a cuddle and promise him it gets better!

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