Karl Menninger once said, “The adjuration to be ‘normal’ seems shockingly repellant to me; I see neither hope nor comfort in sinking to that low level. I think it is ignorance that makes people think of abnormality only with horror and allows them to remain undismayed at the proximity of “normal” to average and mediocre. For surely anyone who achieves anything is, essentially, abnormal.”  US Psychiatrist (1893-1990).

This quote is for all of us who felt like square pegs, misfits, and fringe material at some point in our lives, especially in that microcosm of torment known as high school. It is the arena in which “fitting in” is most tantamount to survival, equaled only by the pressure to conform exerted by extreme fundamentalist groups and weirdly familial corporations. But, even after surviving high school, few of us dare to stand out from the crowd, to be labeled as different. We snuggle into the comfort of the familiar, the routine, and the expected. Yet, it is only by stepping away from the crowd that we have room to spread our wings and soar.

So–when is being different unique, and when is it an illness? Where is the dividing line? Sigmund Freud stated that mental and emotional health is the ability to work and love. Although he said many other things that are largely discounted, it is still reasonable to assume that a psychologically healthy individual is able to manage intimate relationships and to engage in productivity. If a person’s symptoms or behavior patterns interfere with those activities, then they have crossed the line into a disorder.

If a person washes his or her hands or straightens papers or sharpens pencils many times a day, but still manages to get to work and complete the necessary tasks, then it’s a behavior quirk that may appear odd but isn’t a disorder. If they spend so much time sharpening the pencils that they never get to the job they need them for, it’s a disorder.