Originally Posted by
ananda 
well ok ... i'll try not to harp, but i just have to say one more thing here...it really really bothers me that people assume that because I believe in the idea of a disease model or i believe in a version of powerlessness...that it means i don't take responsiblity for what i do....
It just plain pisses me off cause i very very very much take responsibility...weather by choice or for some other reason I take bad action on a regular basis...i think it is part of being human.
I like what you said. Even if I had some other problem, cancer or whatever, I wouldn't feel free from responsibility for my own actions but also would not feel responsible for the condition itself. This is not something I chose, and I'm very certain that no human being ever "chose" to be schizophrenic or chronically depressed or diabetic or alcoholic or whatever. It doesn't mean that people who suffer from those things should, or do, automatically consider themselves innocent of their own actions.
It seems to me that refusal to acknowledge that the condition exists (I care not whether you label it as disease, disorder, condition, etc.) is the bogus way out. That sounds to me like the fast track to hell. Just because I have this bad thing doesn't mean that I can't be a good person. I can still consider what impact I'm having on myself and the world around me. If I ever come to believe that this thing has rendered me incapable of doing that - please kill me.