On the Spectrum

I was sat on a train, on the day before Christmas Eve, eavesdropping on a conversation. Within the space of about sixty seconds, these two guys had diagnosed themselves with autism, OCD, and bi-polar disorder.

A while back, after someone saying that his girlfriend was bi-polar, a friend of mine quipped “Why do all women seem to have bi-polar disorder?”

Now that was both very funny, and also completely out of order really. Prime material for being cancelled. But I had to laugh, because I did see his point. Bi-polar seemed to be the thing of the day. Sometimes, after a particularly long sesh, I even wondered if I might have it myself. So many people seemed to be being medicated for depression – some of them legitimately, I am sure, but also some – probably through no fault of their own – more questionably so.

A friend of mine was prescribed anti-depressants because of a back ache. He told me that his doctor told him that he was just experiencing ‘a memory of a pain’ and that the pills would relieve it. Two years later, after having a check up for something else, it was discovered that he actually had spondylosis, which is degeneration of the spine, and not anything imagined.

Over the past couple of years, the trend seems to have shifted towards autistic spectrum disorder. (I dislike the ‘disorder’ part, but that’s the term.) I find that nowadays, so many people will say to me “I’m a bit on the spectrum” and I’ll find myself, as someone who actually is ‘a bit on the spectrum’, nodding through gritted teeth.

I also hear people using it as a means for excusing all sorts of terrible behaviour.

“Oh, I know he comes across as a self-obsessed, inconsiderate sociopath, but it’s just because he’s a bit on the spectrum.”

And finally, the part that grates on me the most is that nobody seems to understand what a spectrum is. EVERYBODY is somewhere on the spectrum. That is the whole point of a spectrum.