I would like to offer my condolences to you because of your illness, but I do disagree with you.
I agree to an extent that the children and their gifts are being exploited, but both the parents and the children were informed and aware of everything that would happen if they agreed to it. As a result, I see nothing wrong with this. Personally, I believe people, especially those residing in the US, are OVER-medicated these days. As long as the alleged "illness" is causing the person no great physical or mental harm and is not constantly disrupting their life, there is no reason why they should be given medication. Finding a mentor or a counselor of some kind to confide in might be a wise idea - everyone has issues, so it's a good idea for everyone as far as I'm concerned - but unless there is evidence of it getting progressively worse and possibly harming the person, medication should not be necessary.
One could argue that, in the particular case of these children, their lives are being disrupted by the occasional fear they may experience from seeing, hearing, etc. these "spirits" and the rejection they usually suffer at school, but I'd like to make a couple of points on those matters. Yes, I'm worlds away from being an expert, but this is just how I see it.
1) Newsflash: yes, it's for very different reasons, but we "normal" people experience fear and rejection, too. These things alone are not signs of illness or things worthy of medication. Admittedly, it's nothing quite like saying "I see dead people," but there are a number of things I could tell any one of my friends and/or family about myself, my past, whatever, and I would be rejected for it. And how many of us can honestly say that we haven't experienced fear because of something seemingly irrational or something that couldn't be explained? I'm scared to death of being alone in the dark, even in my own house. Why? My reasoning makes sense to me, albeit in a weird way, but it probably wouldn't make sense to anyone else. I suppose I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure I'm not crazy.
2) This doesn't relate entirely to the whole "fear and rejection" thing I planned on dicussing, but I'd still like to say it. Instead of sticking our children in a padded room or shoving a bunch of pills down their throats, how about we give accepting them as they are a try? How about trying to cope with their "quirks?" How about we help other "normal" kids learn how to accept them, too? Everyone's different, it's just that other people (yes, even kids) are better at hiding it than others. Making a child believe that they are "sick" and further isolating them from others to be "treated" is what worsens the problem. Whether you're a child or an adult suffering from a so-called "illness," what you want is to fit in, to be accepted and included, but I think it's rare that you also WANT to have to change yourself in order to do that.
Lastly, believe it or not, I do take these kinds of things with a grain of salt, but for the most part I believe these children. I know there are fakes, but I do believe there are psychics and people with certain gifts beyond what we would consider normal talents out there. Most of what we accept as fact about the world and the universe is based upon theory. It hasn't been proven either. Yes, it SOUNDS more sensible than someone trying to explain their belief in ghosts and even God, but I think this is merely because it's not the norm. It's not what we've been conditioned as a society living in the Information Age to accept. And how do you prove something that only a select few have access to anyway? Some things in life can only be proven, felt, understood, etc. through experience. Any human (including atheists, skeptics, and cynics) should know that.
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