dysfunction as function - quotes and descriptions to inspire creative writing

"Dysfunction," said Professor Orbit, "is always a form of function, and further more it is only when you discover why that is true for that individual that you can heal the cause rather than treat symptoms."

Professor Orbit went on, "for example, over seventy percent of my morbidly obese patients had childhood abuse, often sexual, and their fatness is actually their defence mechanism. That must be healed with talk therapies before any weight loss plan can be effective. Otherwise it is as trying to pry a fire extinguisher off a burns victim who is always checking their environment for sparks."

"Even psychosis," said Professor Orbit, "is a form of function. In a broken society, plagued by multiple intractable fears, the brain pushes the boundaries of creative problem solving so far that that dreaming brain merges with the conscious brain. The result is of course a dysfunction, yet the driving force is a desperate survival mechanism to pull a 'rabbit from the ideological hat.' Until we get to grips with dysfunctions as functions, our solutions will be nothing more than playing with symptoms."

"Anger is a dysfunction," said Professor Orbit, "yet how is it function? For there exist real answers. In a survival dog-eat-dog world that anger and quick reaction over slower more cerebral responses may keep you alive. That's a function. And so while we can treat symptoms, the real cure exists in our society, our culture, the environment each baby is born into."