Phantom disorders...

Hello faithful readers!

I watched an interesting program today. I recorded an episode of 20/20 that dealt with 'strange afflictions'. Things like ARFID otherwise known as Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. A disorder in which people eat only small group of foods or even just one food, and can't bear to eat or try to eat anything new or different. Or Hyperacusis, in which everyday noises that we all live with, cars honking, jewelry clinking, dishes knocking together, cause a person with the disorder extreme pain.

One of the things that struck me first was the first two disorders it spoke of that I mention above, are both, to a smaller degree, symptoms people with autism experience. Olivia, my beautiful step-daughter is very sensitive to foods. She has a small pool of foods she will eat, and this sometimes becomes even smaller as she sometimes goes 'off' certain foods. Other times, I might accidentally cook something wrong, and the association of unpleasantness is so much for her that even if I cook it right the next time, she'll never eat it again.

There was a time, before Olivia became a part of my life, when I was a bit judgmental of picky eaters. My older step-sister is a very picky eater and it drove me crazy. It wasn't until I encountered autism on such a close level that I began to realize that it isn't about being stubborn. It's a serious and in some cases debilitating inability to handle the taste, and in more cases the texture of certain foods. People with autism simply 'feel' things differently to you and I.

The other thing that struck me was the folks with hyperacusis, or super sensitive hearing. My husband has very sensitive hearing as a result of being on the autism spectrum. The woman in the segment said one doctor actually suggested she undergo psychological treatment because it was likely 'all in her head'. Her husband also has the disorder and they met through an online group for people with the disorder. Both had normal hearing initially but it seems that it can be triggered by damage from being around loud noises for long periods of time, though doctors aren't 100% certain what causes it at this point.

My whole point in explaining all that, is this. Why is so hard for people to accept that things like these phantom disorders exist? I call them phantom disorders because on the outside people with them seem typical. There is no visual or outward physical signs that something is different. So for years, though it is getting slightly better, people were thought to just be 'making it all up'.

The human brain is the most complex organ that exists. Scientists still have a fairly limited understanding of it's workings and capabilities. So it stands to reason that they have no idea what the brain is truly capable of, and in what myriad ways it can be impaired. While it is so much better now, at least people with these types of disorders are no longer institutionalized, There still needs to be so much more understanding regarding mental illness and illnesses that are simply 'invisible'. I realize that there are still people out there they may try to make things up, make themselves seem ill even though they aren't actually. People that are just good actors. And they make it much harder for people that have real issues.

My hope is that someday people will be educated enough and have enough compassion and understanding (and that includes doctors) to take a deeper look when someone says that something is wrong. Just because you've never heard of it before, doesn't make it any less real for the person experiencing it.

Thanks,

Dawn