#medicalization

First: I am not a doctor, so everything I put in my fics is a) based on widely available sources, or b) sci fi nonsense. 

Second: FUCK western dualism.  The idea of the body and the mind as separate, and the mind as somehow “less real,” is unscientific and dogmatic and complete fucking bullshit.  There’s an article I need to find again that breaks out all the reasons that doctors dearly love to put medical occurrences they can’t explain in the bucket of “”just” stress” — it protects the doctor’s sense of self through suggesting that anything that can’t be detected in a blood test isn’t real, it requires no follow-up because now it’s someone else’s problem, it suggests that all medical problems are under the patient’s control.  Double your odds of this diagnosis if you’re female, triple them if you’re fat, and only halve them if you’re Black because now you’re being classified as a “drug seeker” instead.

Third: Note how often physicians and gastroenterologist and urologists and dermatologists go “reduce stress” and then offer NOTHING WHATSOEVER that will result in actual stress reduction.  Oh gee, doc, that’s great you think I should reduce stress.  You going to prescribe me $200,000 a year so I can quit my job and stop staying up late worrying about my water bill?  You going to set me up with free child care for enough hours a week that I can actually get some sleep and a hot meal or two?  You going to assassinate the guy who wakes up every morning to tell the world that I’m not a human being and he’s going to stamp me out?  No?  So by “reduce stress” you meant “take this pamphlet on mindfulness meditation and go away”?  Thank god I paid $150 and waited 3 hours for this.  I’ve never actually screamed “I’m a psychologist and you’re not, you stupid gastroenterologist” at a stranger, but the temptation is real.

[Link to thread.] [Link to read as an article in his Substack.]

I'm honestly at a loss at how to deal with this stuff. Somebody says they spent many hours reading medical literature, doesn't seem to have read even the most basic materials from intersex studies, openly admits they don't follow any intersex people, and now feels entitled to tell us intersex people that the problems we're facing is that we're getting it all wrong? Seriously?

This sort of hyper-medicalization is actually very seriously part of the oppression that intersex people face! If you want to understand what intersex is you cannot only read biomedical sources and one old intersex advocacy website. You have to read actual works from actually intersex people on the experiences we face. You have to actually listen to a large variety of intersex voices, not just a single one that coveniently doesn’t challenge you or your beliefs.

Because if you did you'd know that being intersex isn't just about physiology, it's also about the social experience of experiencing intersexism. And the hyper-medicalization contributes to the intersexism! 

The hyper-medicalization takes the focus off of the actual social experiences of being intersex, and sets the tone of the conversation about policing categories and diagnoses rather than dealing with oppression, stigma, and isolation.

The hyper-medicalization means that intersex people don’t find the community we need, only furthering the isolation and shame felt by so many intersex people.

also known as, Neurotypical Disorder

(Parody)

To meet diagnostic criteria for Allism Spectrum Disorder according to DSM-5, a child must have persistent deficits in each of three areas of social communication and interaction (see A.1. through A.3. below) plus at least two of four types of restricted, repetitive behaviors (see B.1. through B.4. below).

A. Persistent deficits in direct, honest, and compassionate social interaction and patterns of using deception and manipulation of others perception. Deficits persist across multiple contexts, as manifested by the following, currently or by history (examples are illustrative, not exhaustive; see text):

Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity. For example, a. Indirect, ambiguous, or deceptive communication style, b. Over dependence on social norms and generalizations, c. Frequently superimposes subtext or places unfounded meaning on concrete, literal, or factual communication, d. Struggles with comprehending consent and personal boundaries in social interaction.

Deficits in verbal and nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction. For example, a. Ritualized use of unusual or menial conversation topics (e.g. comments on weather), b. Pervasive passive aggressive communication style (saying “that’s different” when really meaning “I don’t like that”), c. An excessive use of eye contact, abnormalities in body language, and deficits in understanding and use of gestures.

Deficits in theory of mind and developing, maintaining, and understanding autistic relationships. For example, a. Difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts, b. Inappropriate or undesired responses in conversation (e.g. using repeated passive/apathetic responses to end a conversation, visible discomfort when your interests or opinions vary from theirs), c. Absorption in perceived social status “ranking”, d. Deficit in comprehending bodily autonomy and personal space, e. Restrictive fixation with and dependence on gender social constructs, f. Repeatedly engages in tribalistic behaviors, such as compulsive attempts to control reputation in groups, and exploiting, marginalizing, or punishing groups deemed unworthy or inferior.

Severity is based on social communication impairments and impairment in organized, specialized behavior. For either criterion, severity is described in 3 levels: Level 3 – requires very substantial support, Level 2 – Requires substantial support, and Level 1 – requires support.

B. Patterns of over-dependence on heuristics, social norms, and generalizations in behavior, interests, or activities, as manifested by at least two of the following, currently or by history (examples are illustrative, not exhaustive; see text):

Stereotyped or repetitive verbalization, use of objects, or speech. e.g., a. Simple motor stereotypes, b. Repetitive vocal stimming via verbalizing unfiltered thoughts or patterns of erroneous intonation c. Recreating social scenarios with toys or objects as children, d. Repetitive use of involuntary scripted phrases (e.g. “Lets hang out soon”, “How are you”, “Long time no see”, or “It’s nice to meet you”).

Insistence on sameness, extreme adherence to pre-existing social norms, or ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior. e.g., a. Ritualized use of indirect communication, b. Strong attachment to group identity, rigid thinking patterns, greeting rituals, c. Need to conform, d. Difficulty in challenging pre-existing constructs in the world, e. Gullible to group biases such as bandwagon effect, groupthink, or status quo bias.

Lack of specialization or pattern-recognition that is abnormal in apathy or disorderliness. e.g., a. numerous superficial, shallow hobbies and interests with deficit in or complete lack of deeper exploration of interests, b. selecting interests based on social group or social influence, c. utilizing interests as social currency without genuine passion, d. ignoring small details because they do not align with expectations, context, or pre-existing beliefs, e. overly concerned with social perception instead of concrete objects or information.

Dulled or hyporeactive to sensory input or information that does align with pre-existing knowledge, beliefs, or self-interest. e.g., a. ”tuning out” sounds in environment deemed unimportant, b. easily influenced to interpret information based on how information is presented, c. overly gullible to confirmation bias, halo effect, and attentional bias, d. restrictively applyies existing social constructs as rules/expectations for all interaction and modelling of instead of generating beliefs based on sensory input and pattern recognition.

Specify current severity:

Severity is based on social communication impairments and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior. (See table below.)

C. Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (but may not become fully manifest until their behavior becomes intolerable to autistics).

D. Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning.

E. These disturbances are not better explained by intellectual disability (intellectual developmental disorder) or global developmental delay. Intellectual disability and allism spectrum disorder frequently co-occur; to make comorbid diagnoses of allism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability, communication should be below that expected for general developmental level.