I am presently reading a book entitled "Manic Depression and Creativity" written by psychiatrist Julian Lieb. Towards the end of the book , there is an interesting passage which discusses learning disabilities and mental illness.
"Manic-depressive disorder can have damaging effects on learning, and it can strike people of all ages, even children. Depressed children can't learn. They don't learn because they can't concentrate; the lack initiative;they are too timid to ask questions or volunteer; they are easily discouraged;they are easily distracted by anxiety, phobias, or compulsions; they cannot organize their activities; and they are chronically fatigued. In extreme cases they may be so phobic that they refuse to go to school. For many of these children, school is hell. For such children who respond to an antidepressant, school becomes a plesant, rewarding and affirming experience.
Over the past decade some psychiatrists have remained unconvinced about the validity of the broad concept of "attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder", viewing it as often the cognitive and behavioral expression of manic-depressive disorder or major depression in childhood. Preliminary research by Dr. Joseph Biederman at Harvard now suggests that between one-fifth and one quarter of children with ADHD have manic-depressive disorder, or will go on to develop it. It falls on educators at all levels to consider depression and manic-depressive disorder in students who are failing or underachieving.
The signs and symptoms of syphilis can imitate so many diseases that, earlier this century, it was named the "great masquerader". When the objective phenomena of mood disorders overtake the romance of Sigmund Freud, depression and manic-depressive disorder will take their place as the masqueraders of the twentieth century, the invisible force behind humankind's greatest achievements and failures."
