Speaking of
using labels as excuses for offensive behavior, a psychologist has suggested that the
racist rant Michael Richards -- best known as
Seinfeld's Kramer -- recently spewed at an L.A. comedy club may be a sign that the actor has ADHD or Bipolar Disorder. In an interview with columnist Kaffie Sledge online at
Ledger-Enquirer.com, Paul A. Jurek, Ph.D., explains that the anger and intensity with which Richards lost control when heckled are consistent with the way an adult with one of those diagnoses would act. "If he's not a racist, he's probably ADHD or bi-polar," Jurek is quoted as saying. "He fits the profile -- this rage that builds up inside. We see that in both the ADHD adult and the bi-polar." Certainly parents of children with special behavioral or mental-health needs have seen anger get out of control and meltdowns get ugly and things get said and done that the child is bewildered and genuinely contrite about afterwards. But an adult, a professional in a field in which words are stock and trade? Hmmm. Says Jurek, "In a situation that on an anger scale of 1-10 would normally call for a 4 comes out as an 8 with an ADHD person. Or it may come back as a 10. It's in the brain and it sort of boils up in there sometimes. I think that's what Richards did." What do you think? Is the idea that this offensive outburst might have been ADHD- or BP-related plausible, pathetic, or a really good argument for psychiatric medications? Pick one or more choices from the poll at right, or select "other" and theorize in the comments.
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