As best as I recall, I first became aware of Labelling Theory sometime during my first Degree – probably around 1980 or ’81. As traditionally used it is to do with the labelling of deviance and the power of the label to impute something which may not actually be there.
In one way or another I have noticed it cropping up in all sorts of situations over the years and I became particularly interested in it in the modified sense of ‘self-labelling’ – putting oneself in some labelled box or other and using that box as a kind of reductionist catch-all to explain facets of behaviour or circumstance. This modified form became particularly interesting to me when I first encountered Myers-Briggs Type Indicators which induced all sorts of labelling and self-labelling behaviour in people on the basis of remarkably shaky evidence (take a look at Annie Murphy Paul’s “The Cult of Personality Testing” for more on this).
See me? I've got an unpronounceable condition.
I came across it again when I first had the High Blood Pressure diagnosis when my Doctor commented that we had to be careful to ensure that I remain a person, not a patient. It is in this latter context that I have been pondering it again for the past couple of days.
It looks as though I have a problem with a hormone called Aldosterone and specifically I have too much of it. If this is the case then I am happy that it has been identified and that I am being seen by a specialist who knows what he is doing.
However.
I did what comes naturally these days and did some Googling and came across an internet group for others with in the same circumstance in the hope that I could learn from other people’s experiences. And maybe this will happen. However my first few days of observing have been interesting from a labelling perspective as so many of the people on the list now seek to define themselves by reference to the condition.
This isn’t surprising in one sense – it is a self-selecting group after all – but it is somewhere between worrying and amusing in another sense. I occasionally look in on groups for photographers and guitarists where people’s signature lines list their cameras or guitars (which always seems to me to be a somewhat sad species of self-affirmation). I shouldn’t be surprised to find a group where people’s sig lines can include all sorts of detailed blood measurements and a note of their current medication. This seems to be not merely self-labelling but a kind of inverted badge of honour. My selfhood consists in more, needless to say, than an excess of a hormone and a handful of meds.
I was very interested to see, though, that a blood test which specifically focuses on DNA and potential genetic transmission of the condition was being quoted at Aus$6,000. I had it last week as a matter of routine – free at the point of care.
Because they've got no bones
This is not to say that there are not some interesting things to learn from being aware of the condition and the effects of changes in medication.
For a long time I found myself with unaccountable muscle weakness when hill walking – not tiredness just a lack of power in the muscle. This was, on reflection, probably an early indicator of the Potassium deficiency. Similarly, when I was going to the gym regularly at Scottish Government I would often, after lunch, be somnolent to the point of nearly fainting and certainly ‘brain-fogged’. This too was almost certainly Potassium deficiency.
Perhaps more interestingly, I have for as long as I can remember been somewhat introverted in the sense, ironically enough, used in Myers-Briggs which is to say more inclined to be comfortable in my own company. At some points this has meant struggling with feelings and thoughts which, had they been somewhat more amplified, could have been labelled as depressive on some indicators. This was certainly the case latterly in Scottish Government when I had a hard time focusing on some of the things I was meant to be doing. Since starting on Potassium supplements and certainly of late when I have been on quite high quantities of Potassium supplements, I have been aware of being much more alert and focused.
I may be over-analysing: now, let me write that sig line…
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