If you’re his therapist, this is a terrible breach of patient/client privilege. You could lose your license for it.
Appears to be some combination of ADHD, Tourette Syndrome, and/or Autism Spectrum Disorder, with assorted other flavors of mental illness thrown in for good measure.
That video hits too close to home for me. The behavior captured could easily have been exhibited by a couple people in my family circle.
I think he’s perfectly sane, just an asshole so I’m cool with posting about it. That said, if you can offer actual evidence he has an illness besides the fact that he was an asshole to a server, please feel free to let us know.
Neither ADHD or Austim are traditionally “mental illnesses.” They’re physical conditions to do with brain chemistry and/or structure.
Plenty of people have mental health issues and don’t treat others this way. As @Cubiculo_Obscuro points out above, the term mental illness is used to wave away a whole host of ills and connecting behavior like this to mental illness only further serves to stigmatize the mentally ill (who are already stigmatized, as you suggest). by assuming that the individual simply suffers from mental illness, waves away his responsibility at being a jerk. You’re saying that, in this case, misogyny is a metal illness, which I’m not buying. Not every white dude who unloads their bile on the rest of humanity at a whim is mentally ill. In fact, I’d suggest that the majority of them aren’t.
To play devils advocate, you might be right. But we really can’t make that determination on single video, either way.
You’re right, we can’t make that determination. That is why it’s best not to humiliate him on one of the most popular blogs on the internet.
Seriously, thank you for this reply. Mocking people with mental illness is just as appalling as sexism, racism, and so many other -isms out there.
I think we’re mocking his political beliefs as manifest in his rant. Not his (possible or not) mental illness.
I absolutely saw symptoms of serious mental illness in that video, but you’re completely right that we can’t really know his state of mental health. That’s why I think it’s wrong to humiliate someone like that on such a popular website. We don’t know this guys story… let’s not assume he’s all there before ruining his life.
At what point is it okay to call out this kind of thing, which is abusive to the server? Why is his right to not be mocked for his political beliefs on the internet trumping the servers right not to be humiliated in public for something out of their control?
The behavior being manifest in this video is abhorrent.
The cause for that behavior is up for (fruitless) debate (given the data set we have access to)- and that may change what the response to that behavior should be. But it does not change the nature of the behavior itself.
For example: a murderer may be found to be unable to held accountable for their actions, and thus end up in a mental facility instead of a prison- but that condition doesn’t change the fact they’re a murderer.
I’m not defending his behaviour, the server deserves to be treated with respect. That said, even before that video was shared on the internet he had been more humiliated than anyone. The repercussions of sharing something like that on boingboing will have far more reaching effects than his ridiculous outburst had on anyone at that McDonalds. The punishment doesn’t fit the crime, especially on the likely chance that he’s mentally ill.
Ridiculing a mentally ill person for poor social interaction is like ridiculing someone in a wheelchair for not climbing stairs. Would you post a video of that on boingboing? Nope.
I see your point. The problem is we don’t know if this guy has genuine issues or not. Or if his issues are bad enough that we should pity him more than ridicule him.
If the guy had Downs Syndrome and was going off on someone, it would be in poor taste to share.
But this guy doesn’t APPEAR damaged enough for most people to feel pity.
Okay, so the man featured in the video is exhibiting behavior that appears to be caused by some combination of mental illness(es), neurological disorder(s), neurodevelopmental disorder(s), and/or psychiatric disorder(s). People that suffer from one or more of these conditions are often mislabeled as just being assholes, especially when they’re on the high-functioning end of the spectrum for said condition(s) and otherwise appear “normal.”
Doesn’t excuse his behavior, or give him a right to behave like that. But it also doesn’t make it acceptable to mock him.
Again, what evidence do you have that this just isn’t an entitled jerk? Why is he worth protecting, but the server just needs to brush it off? When is it okay, in your opinion, for me to call out misogyny in our culture? When I make sure I’m not hurting some guys feelings? What about my feelings, what about the server, who likely experiences this kind of thing on a regular basis?
I have yet to meet a person with Downs Syndrome who isn’t a kind human being.
And therein lies the problem.
Exactly. Most forms of mental illness are considered “invisible disabilities”:
https://invisibledisabilities.org/what-is-an-invisible-disability/
That’s why I think it’s better not to ridicule people who may or may not be mentally ill. I just think it’s better not to ruin his life on the assumption that he’s in good mental health.
I’m sad to say I have. Just like everyone else, there’s a spectrum there.
He might not be mentally ill, but let’s not wreck his life on the assumption that he’s fine. He’s at least shown an inability to reason, poor grasp of logic, underdeveloped social skills, overreaction to criticism. Those all make him a decent candidate for schizophrenia, among other illnesses.
Try reading this article on invisible disabilities, it explains why it’s bad form to assume everyone is on an even playing field, even when it appears that way: https://invisibledisabilities.org/what-is-an-invisible-disability/
Sure… this was just my own experience. I didn’t suggest such a thing existed.
But again, behaviors like this aren’t directly related to mental illness or difference - rather it’s learned behavior that should be considerd unacceptable.
Okay. Since you are clearly dead set on seeing this as a mental illness problem not a misogyny problem (which, magically seems to crop up whenever a white dude is being called out for anything), I don’t think we’re going to see eye to eye here.
But yet another thread where calling out misogyny is considered worse than the misogyny itself. At this point, I should know better, but I guess I never learn.
