My friend was diagnosed Aspergers as a kid (Aspergers syndrome is a mild form of autism). He was a really shy and nervous guy, who usually avoided eye contact when he spoke, and had a limited set of expressions and points of interest. Almost always he failed miserably with girls, other guys and in most social situations in general.
I had not seen him for three years since high school, but when I met him again last month, he was like a whole new person. He could actually converse, had a sense of humor and looked me straight in the eye. He told how his life had changed from that obsessed Star Trek fanatic to a perfectly ordinary guy. He told me he now has a girlfriend, a job, studies at an uni, and has two pet dogs. He told me how he considered taking up hiking in addition to his basketball hobby. I was so surprised I asked if he had gotten a better medication that could explain his dramatically changed behavior. He told me he had abandoned medication altogether almost two years ago, and had simply decided to learn how to be more social and daring!
That experience changed my view on things. Even more so, today I read about a woman whose diagnose was apparently "careful personality disorder". According to the newspaper, such "disabled" people even have their own organization!
My point is, do you think that commonly diagnosed syndromes like Aspergers, disabilities like "careful personalities" (lol) or even mental illnesses like narcissism are simply personality types that have developed because of the individual has received the wrong kind of attention as a child? I know real disabilities like autism and sociopathic personality disorder also exist, and that there is little one can do about them. One can hardly alter their brain construction after all. I am talking about individuals who can most often be perfectly functional persons in this world, but have some form of mental diagnose.
