Long Term Psychological Effects of Learning Disabilities

Many folks with dyslexia or other learning disabilities come to believe that they are ‘defective’ in some way.  They often think they are ‘stupid.’  In my experience, this is not the case at all….they just have trouble with one or more specific tasks, but can be highly intelligent.

You might find this link interesting with a list of famous people with dyslexia.

Sometimes, they will have what I call a ‘defectiveness complex.’  In other words, they interpret most of their actions and things that happen in the world as more evidence that they are defective on some level.  A ‘complex’ has an overiding effect on interpretation of events, and is often strongly defended.  So, someone with a defectiveness complex will reject any and all information to points to the fact that they are not defective, and automatically accept any evidence that may point to the fact that they are defective.

These kind of complexes often take years of treatment and direct challenges to change.  But, they can be changed.  A person can come to believe that they are intelligent and effective in many areas of life, while having difficulty in one specific area.  Again, this takes a lot of challenges to the complex and a lot of evidence which contradicts the notion that a person is ‘defective.’  It also helps to understand the origin of this type of thinking, and how information is filtered through the ‘complex.’

This type of ‘complex’ can develop in other ways than dyslexia, or a learning disability, and I will write more on this in the future.