I found an article that I can't verify it's truth or it's original publication of, but the topic itself was interesting enough for me to want to talk about. The topic was, Road Rage being classified as a 'mental illness'.
I feel that 'road rage' being labeled as a mental
illness is another poor job by our Medical community, and I hope is
not being accepted as 'the end all truth' for what causes Road
Rage... Road Rage, is nothing more than loss of control of Self - we
all get into these cars and 'forget' who we are and become someone
else because 'no one can see us', our car's 'skin' becomes the drivers
physical presence. Road Rage, is Anger, Competition, Frustration,
and.. Loss of Control of Self, and likely many other things that
fits' for each persons unique situation, each unique moment of the
day.
Some people - have no problem whatsoever of distinguishing themselves
while in a car. Many however, do take on another 'personality' while
behind the wheel. Completely fine people can have a bad day and have
a fit, and have road rage. this is not sudden 'mental illness', now
is it?
For that point, I feel 'Mental Illness's' are good internal practices,
that are turned up a notch too high (in some cases, maybe many
notches!). The person with OCD? The greatest organizer in the world
if they recognize it and put it to practice and use. ADD - some of
the brightest minds and thinkers, creators and inventive people out
there have been labeled with ADD.
When we begin to label people's abilities or 'momentary loss of self'
as illnesses - I think we need to step back (before we take a step
back) and really examine 'what' is going on, and how what one
individual is doing or causing, can be explained with a closer,
intimate look at an person's Self.
To that end - I fully admit, I have had moments of Road Rage.
Completely my fault, and lack of self control in those instances.
Certainly, no mental illness going on that 'caused' me to Rage. 'I'
accept FULL responsibility for myself. I have not had an instance
like this in years, and feel I have found my 'Self', which does not want
any part of loss of control of 'My'Self.
If everyone did this, 'own yourself' instead of wanting a 'label' for whatever makes
them different - maybe we'd get to 'know' each other better, than just
reading labels and making associations based on those labels - labels
no matter how long, are not descriptive enough to explain the
uniqueness of EACH of us. :)
Namaste,
